President Cyril Ramaphosa has downplayed France’s cancellation of its invitation for South Africa to attend the G7 summit in June, contradicting his spokesperson Vincent Magwenya, who said US President Donald Trump had forced France’s hand.
French President Emmanuel Macron invited Ramaphosa during last year’s G20 summit in Johannesburg, but earlier this month the French embassy in Pretoria told South Africa the invitation had been withdrawn. This week Magwenya said the French about-turn was a result of pressure exerted by the Trump administration, which is openly hostile to the ANC-led government.
But Ramaphosa told reporters hours later that media reports had exaggerated the issue.
“My information is that there has been no pressure from any country, the US or any other country,” he said. “And the invitation to the G7 does not mean you are being snubbed if you are not invited or you are being ignored. There are so many countries around the world that don’t get invited to the G7, and remember, South Africa is not a member.
“When we do go, we are invited and we take a message there. We have not attended every G7, so if we don’t go to this one, it should never be a surprise to anyone,” said the president.
The French and the South African governments are mature enough to understand that they are dealing with a bully; they are dealing with a man that has serious narcissistic issues
— Oscar van Heerden, University of Johannesburg
But Oscar van Heerden, an international relations researcher at the University of Johannesburg, said the initial version given by Magwenya about US pressure was plausible.
“It’s logical that they would have sent a message to the French government to say, ‘If you invite South Africa, we won’t come,’ and on the basis of that, the French then decided that they can’t have the G7 summit without the largest economy in the world in the room. And I think that is when they decided to disinvite South Africa,” said Van Heerden.
The cancelled invitation did not signal damage to the South Africa-France relationship.
“If anything, it is going to strengthen it. The French and South African governments are mature enough to understand that they are dealing with a bully; they are dealing with a man that has serious narcissistic issues in the form of Donald Trump, and they must ride out this wave.
“It is a temporary wave, and they can see beyond the Trump administration. I don’t think this is going to damage the trade relations between South Africa and France.”
Van Heerden said an unintended consequence of the US pressure on France was that it would “elevate and make South Africa more important to other partners, whether it’s India or China or so on. So I think that it’s the wrong approach on the part of the Trump administration, but I understand why he is doing this, because he wants to show that he’s the main man in the room.”
Reuters quoted French officials as denying that the U-turn on South Africa’s participation had been prompted by Washington. They said France had decided to invite Kenya to represent Africa.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.