In yet more evidence of the charged climate in the US with South Africa, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessend will not attend the meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors of the G20 countries, according to a report in today’s New York Times, citing sources with knowledge of the minister’s plans.

Moves and decisions by the US Trump administration have caused tensions with Pretoria.

Trump signed a presidential order to freeze all US aid to South Africa, blaming the country’s government for a law providing for land expropriations that the US government claims discriminate against white farmers. The South African presidency refutes the accusations of any intention of “land confiscation.”

Verbal attacks on Pretoria by South African-born, Elon Musk – a Trump administration official – are aggravating the climate in relations between the two countries.

As part of this escalation, US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, canceled a trip to Johannesburg for a G20 foreign ministers’ meeting.

South Africa holds the rotating presidency of the G20 from December 2024 to November 2025.

The U.S. Treasury Department did not immediately respond to questions about Bessend’s plans for the G20 after the NYT report.