Poetic Licence: The G20 Summit and the superpower that wanted to be missed

South Africa finally hosts the G20 for the first time on African soil, a moment stitched from pride and diplomatic heavy lifting. A moment we were supposed to savour.

A moment, frankly, bigger than anyone’s ego.And yet, somehow, we’ve ended up spending the week talking about one man’s ego anyway.

Then in the 11th hour, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the United States was “discussing” attending after previously snubbing the summit. A cautious, almost hopeful line; the kind of diplomatic phrasing that usually prompts a nod and a smile.

Instead, Washington responded by telling him he was “running his mouth.”

That’s where we are now: the world’s biggest economies gathering to discuss global stability while Washington’s mood swings dictate the weather. It’s like preparing a grand feast and having a guest flip the table, not because the food is bad, but because they weren’t seated close enough to the camera.

This saga feels less like geopolitics and more like a satirical monologue, which, fittingly, Trump himself delivered in spirit:

They begged. They panicked. They can’t run the G20 without America. They need the star of the show.

The kind of thing you’d expect to hear backstage at a reality show reunion episode, not from a government debating attendance at a global summit.

The US insists it never reconsidered, never softened its stance, never whispered even a hint of “maybe.” South Africa says otherwise.

Somewhere between those two positions lies the truth. But this week reminded us that the truth is often the least important character in the drama of global politics.

And yet, behind the theatrics, there’s something worth noticing.

South Africa stood its ground. Ramaphosa said the summit will go ahead, declaration and all, with or without America. That shouldn’t be a radical statement, but in the world’s current power architecture, it almost is. There’s something quietly dignified about refusing to shrink simply because a superpower is sulking.

For years, African participation in global institutions has been treated like an optional extra; decorative, polite, never decisive. Hosting the G20 was supposed to challenge that assumption. A continent long dismissed as an afterthought finally taking its place as necessity, not charity.

Perhaps that’s why the US tantrum stings: it exposes how quickly the old hierarchies resurface when challenged.

America’s absence, or half-attendance, or shadow-attendance, whatever they end up calling it, does not sink the summit. But it does reveal something uncomfortable about the world order: that even in a multilateral forum meant to reflect equality, there are still those who imagine themselves too important to participate and too essential to ignore.

Maybe that’s why the monologue writes itself. Because when a superpower treats global governance like a negotiation tactic or a TV cameo, satire becomes the only honest language left.

But here’s the thing the theatrics can’t erase: the G20 is happening in Johannesburg. Decisions will be made. A declaration will be issued. Leaders will debate the future of the global economy on African soil, not in spite of the US position, but irrespective of it.

For more analysis and commentary in vernacular, join the conversation on Rabbie’s YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/c/RabbieWrote?sub_confirmation=1--Rabbie SerumulaWriter+27 81 445 5287[email protected]