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US Vice President JD Vance gestures as he gives a speech.
International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola has welcomed United States President Donald Trump’s decision to send his Vice President JD Vance to the Group of 20 world leaders (G20) summit to be held in Johannesburg in November.
Trump has confirmed he will not be attending the G20 Leaders’ Summit in South Africa. The current US administration has held a hostile stance towards South Africa since Trump returned to the White House in January.
Trump has said he will host the Group of 20 world leaders for the 2026 summit at his Doral golf club near Miami.
Lamola has been speaking to SABC News on the sidelines of the funeral of Ambassador Mninwa Johannes Mahlangu, held at the Steve Tshwete Banquet Hall in Middelburg, Mpumalanga.
“We welcome the fact that he has assigned his Deputy President, Vance, to be the one who attends the G20 in SA and that is a welcomed development because the US can assign anyone that President Trump deems necessary and we look forward to interact with him in the platforms of the G20 but we also know that he is also reluctant to travel a long distance. But I believe that the White House can shed more light on his reasons, but we believe that the G20 will still be able to produce the ambitious outcomes. We don’t want to be in any conspirational or second-guessing.” – Reporting by Ntombi Mavimbela
VIDEO | Lamola welcomes Trump’s decision to send Vance to G20:
