African National Congress (ANC) secretary general Fikile Mbalula said the G20 Summit held in South Africa and led by President Cyril Ramaphosa was one of the “most successful”, acknowledged as such by world leaders who attended.

This was in response to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s claims that South Africa operated with “spite, division, and radical agendas that failed to produce economic growth”.

Last month, South Africa hosted the G20 Summit in Johannesburg. The US did not attend, accusing South Africa of unsubstantiated claims of persecution of Afrikaners.

“The numbers speak for themselves. As South Africa’s economy has stagnated under its burdensome regulatory regime driven by racial grievance, and it falls firmly outside the group of the 20 largest industrialised economies,” Rubio said in a blog post.

He claimed this “politics of grievance” was carried over to South Africa’s G20 Presidency, and described it as “an exercise in spite, division, and radical agendas that have nothing to do with economic growth”.

In its G20 Presidency, South Africa focused on climate change, diversity and inclusion, as well as aid dependency.

Rubio claimed South Africa blocked the US and other countries’ inputs into negotiations.

“It actively ignored our reasonable faith efforts to negotiate. It doxed US officials working on these negotiations. It fundamentally tarnished the G20’s reputation,” he said.

Mbalula said on his X platform account that this was untrue and fake news.

He explained that the G20 Summit was premised on “solidarity, equality and sustainability”.

Ten global leaders in attendance signed a declaration, which Mbalula said had been praised as one of the “most progressive” and a significant leap forward for positioning the Global South as an equal partner.

Mbalula said Americans had always been on the side of progress, citing their support for the anti-apartheid struggle, and said the recent posture taken by Donald Trump’s administration was “rather unfortunate”.

“…but our relations with the people of the US will never be severed by this passing imperialist flirting moment,” he said.

Rubio further hit back at the “ANC-led” South African government, calling it radical and accusing it of scapegoating its own citizens and the US.

“As President Trump has rightly highlighted, the South African government’s appetite for racism and tolerance for violence against its Afrikaner citizens have become embedded as core domestic policies. It seems intent on enriching itself while the country’s economy limps along, all while South Africans are subject to violence, discrimination, and land confiscation without compensation.

“Its former Ambassador to the United States was openly hostile to America. Its relationships with Iran, its entertainment of Hamas sympathisers, and cozying to America’s greatest adversaries move it from the family of nations we once called close,” he added.

The US will be hosting the G20 Summit in December 2026, for which, it has already stated, it will not be extending an invitation to the South African government to participate.

Rubio said the US supported South Africans, but not the “radical ANC-led government”, and said the US would not tolerate its “continued behaviour”.

“When South Africa decides it has made the tough decisions needed to fix its broken system and is ready to rejoin the family of prosperous and free nations, the United States will have a seat for it at our table. Until then, America will be forging ahead with a new G20,” he added.