Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola said on Monday that South Africa’s doors are still open if the US decides it wants to participate in the G20 Leaders’ Summit.

Lamola provided an update on the preparations for the G20 Leaders’ Summit scheduled to take place on Saturday and Sunday, and confirmed that activities were on track, with numerous heads of State and government from G20 member countries and invited guest countries confirmed for participation.

“In total, 42 countries are confirmed for participation at various levels. This includes 20 G20 members, excluding the US, 16 guest countries and 6 countries representing Regional Economic Communities in Africa, the Caribbean and East Asia,” he said.

Lamola said the Presidency had started negotiations of the South African Declaration.

Last week sherpas virtually began negotiations on the declaration and began in-person negotiations on Sunday, at the fourth Sherpa meeting which is scheduled to conclude on Wednesday.

US President Donald Trump said that no US official would attend the gathering over widely discredited claims that white people are being persecuted in South Africa.

“We have done everything possible to encourage robust engagements to allow the negotiations to happen in an open, fair platform; even with the US, when they raised concerns we did our best to accommodate them and they did come back in to some of the meetings, at some point it was indicated that they will be full participants and including that at the Leaders’ Summit they will be represented at the Vice President level.

“But they have now decided out of their own volition and not been pushed out of the G20 by South Africa,” noted Lamola.

He said South Africa was ready to continue with the meeting.

“Our doors remain open for them if they want to participate at the Leaders’ level of the Summit, because they are not expelled, they decided on their own.

“…we are ready to continue with the meeting, with those that are present to negotiate and come out with outcomes of the declaration,” he stated.

South Africa is optimistic that with those present, a consensus can be built for the leader’s summit to adopt a declaration.

Lamola pointed out that the G20 Members commended South Africa on the “exceptional success” achieved in hosting the different G20 work streams since assumption of G20 Presidency.

South Africa viewed the diversity of the G20 nations as a strength rather than a source of division and has preserved the unity of the Group in pursuit of its priorities, he said.

Meanwhile, Lamola said government thanked City of Johannesburg and Gauteng province residents for their “patience” relating to the disruptions over the G20 preparations.

“…more efforts are also being made to minimise disruptions as far as possible, especially on our roads in and around the venues and relevant ports of entry.

“We have seen how hosting a major event of this magnitude can be a catalyst for higher levels of service delivery and look forward to sustaining and expanding the improvements we have seen,” he pointed out.

Lamola noted fears that some of the service delivery initiatives would be discontinued after the G20.

“I say look at electricity, we were told prior to the last elections that the sustained period without loadshedding prior to the last local government elections was because of elections, today we are a year and some few months after elections and without loadshedding. I believe the G20 has served as a catalyst for us to turn the corner on service delivery in the City of Joburg and across the country,” he stated.

He also noted the preparations for the G20 Social Summit, which he said were going well.

He said 5 000 people were expected to attend the Summit, a three-day event, at the Birchwood Hotel in Boksburg.

Lamola said it was government’s firm belief that the outcomes of the South African Summit would be ambitious and leave a legacy for the cause of the African continent and the Global South beyond South Africa’s historic G20 Presidency.