This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on February 5 that he will not attend a Group of 20 (G20) foreign ministers meeting later this month in South Africa because of its land and climate change policies and promotion of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
“South Africa is doing very bad things. Expropriating private property. Using G20 to promote ‘solidarity, equality, & sustainability.’ In other words: DEI and climate change,” Rubio said on X. “My job is to advance America’s national interests, not waste taxpayer money or coddle anti-Americanism.”
DEI, which stands for diversity, equity and inclusion, has been attacked by President Donald Trump since he returned to the White House last month. Trump is also skeptical about climate change, and last month pulled the United States out of the Paris Agreement for the second time.
Trump has complained about South Africa’s land policy, saying that “South Africa is confiscating land” and “certain classes of people” are being treated “very badly.” In addition, South African-born billionaire Elon Musk, whom Trump has named as his “efficiency czar,” has accused South Africa of having “openly racist ownership laws” and suggested white people were the victims.
The question of land ownership is politically charged in South Africa due to the dispossession of land from blacks during colonialism and apartheid.
President Cyril Ramaphosa defended South Africa’s land policy last week, saying the government had not confiscated any land and the policy was aimed at ensuring equitable public access to land.
“The recently adopted Expropriation Act is not a confiscation instrument, but a constitutionally mandated legal process that ensures public access to land in an equitable and just manner as guided by the constitution,” Ramaphosa said on X.
Ramaphosa spoke with Musk on February 4 to raise concerns about “disinformation” being spread by the U.S. president.
White landowners still own three-quarters of South Africa’s freehold farmland. This contrasts with 4 percent owned by black people, who make up 80 percent of the population, according to the 2017 land audit.
The absence of the United States at the G20 will be a blow to the meeting. Rubio also will miss an opportunity to meet his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, as Trump pushes for diplomacy on the Ukraine war.
The countries in the G20 are Argentina, Australia, Britain, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, and the United States. Two regional bodies — the European Union and the African Union — also are members.