Diplomatic Fallout and Domestic Discontent Overshadow G20 Summit as US Boycott and Afrikaner Controversy Flare
JOHANNESBURG :South African authorities conducted a major security show of force on Wednesday, deploying helicopters, K-9 units, and police motorcycles in preparation for a weekend of expected protests around the Group of 20 (G20) world leaders’ summit in Johannesburg.
In a display of readiness, the country has activated its National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure, deploying 3,500 extra police officers and putting the army on standby to manage security for the high-profile event.
Deputy national commissioner for policing, Lieutenant General Tebello Mosikili, acknowledged the anticipated demonstrations in Johannesburg and other major cities. “We will allow that right [to protest] to be exercised,” she told reporters. “But within the proper directives and proper confines of the law.”
The protests are expected to be diverse, bringing together a coalition of groups including anti-capitalists, climate activists, women’s rights campaigners, and anti-migrant groups. Many of the planned demonstrations aim to draw attention to South Africa’s profound domestic challenges, such as rampant poverty and inequality.
Police have designated specific gathering areas near the summit venue—an exhibition centre adjacent to the country’s biggest soccer stadium—for protesters. In a move to contain airport disruptions, the head of Airports Company South Africa stated that “speakers’ corners” had been set up at international airports, where security would “kindly” redirect any demonstrators upon the arrival of world leaders.
Adding a layer of domestic controversy to the global gathering, a trade union representing members of South Africa’s Afrikaner white minority, Solidarity, erected provocative billboards across Johannesburg. The signs read: “Welcome to the most RACE-REGULATED country in the world,” in reference to South Africa’s affirmative action laws intended to advance opportunities for Black people.
City authorities removed one of the boards, prompting Solidarity to threaten legal action.
The controversy at home is compounded by a major diplomatic fallout with the United States. US President Donald Trump has announced he will boycott the G20 summit over his claims that South Africa’s Black-led government is pursuing racist, anti-white policies and violently persecuting its Afrikaner minority.
Though President Trump’s claims have been widely rejected as baseless by the South African government and others, the US boycott threatens to undermine the diplomatic weight of the G20 summit, the first to be hosted on the African continent.