Maybe this is the start of what we have been expecting…
Possible that we are becoming (more?) persona non grata but the “South Africa excluded” part of all the local news headlines is misleading. SA is part of the African Union and as such is represented by the current AU chair. There is endorsement for the AU as a whole to be part of the G7 - not single African states/countries.
Also, from a non-SA source:
"Slated for May 19-21, the summit invited the leaders of Korea, Australia, Vietnam, India, Brazil, Indonesia, Morocco and the Cook Islands, along with the heads of the International Monetary Fund and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Korea, Australia and Vietnam were invited as individual states while others received invitations in their capacity as chair countries of major regional organizations or multilateral global conferences". (emphasis my own)
If we are excluded as sign of disagreement with our (non-)neutral position it will likely be more about China than Ukraine/Russia as India is on the invited list but they are also on the naughty list with regard to Russia. India’s invite may only be because they currently hold the G20 rotating presidency. If it is about China then both Brazil and India’s invite could be a double standard since the remaining alphabet of BRICs will be problematic?
Australia was apparently not invited to G7 Germany during 2022 because of a French tantrum around submarine contracts, so the invite list is likely influenced by more than just pure political ideology of governments.
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In Japan it is against the Law to beg, and you can land up in jail. They probably want to spare Ramaphosa the humiliation.
Bit of a mixed bag here.
2023 49th summit SA not invited. Held in Japan and only regional country invitees
2022 48th summit SA invited
2021 47th summit SA invited
2020 46th summit SA not invited
2019 45th summit SA invited
2018 44th summit SA invited
2017 43rd summit SA not invited
2016 42nd summit SA not invited. Held in Japan and only regional country invitees
2015 41st summit SA not invited
2014 40th summit SA not invited. Changed from G8 to G7, no Russia
Just because you got invited to four G7 summits does not make you a ‘standing member’ or become a ‘regular attendee’
Methinks hubris runs a wee bit deep with the expectations and perceived standing in the world
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