President Cyril Ramaphosa said he does not feel snubbed by the G7 summit.
For the first time since his Presidency began in 2018, Ramaphosa has not been invited to attend this year’s summit in Japan.
According to The Presidency, the exclusion of Ramaphosa was due to changes made to the format of the summit – which will be held later this month.
Over the last four years, Ramaphosa was invited to G7 summits in Canada, France, the United Kingdom and Germany.
But presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said Ramaphosa was not slighted by not being invited by Japan.
“It is always left to the host of the G7 to decide on the shape and format of the summit and in that regard the president accepted that view and did not see it as a snub.”
Magwenya said despite being left off this year’s guest list, South Africa still enjoyed strong bilateral ties with the G7 nations.
“The communication from the host government, which is Japan, is quite clear that they would prefer for the G7 outreach programme to be rather conducted through regional bodies such as the African Union for example, instead of inviting individual countries.”
Magwenya said government was also planning a shake-up in the way the Brics summit has traditionally been hosted when the body meets in South Africa in August.