German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has urged United States President Donald Trump to reconsider his decision not to invite South Africa to the Group of Twenty (G20) summit scheduled for December in Miami.

“Africa belongs at the table,” Merz said on Wednesday, 21 October, at the Berlin Global Dialogue conference. “The African Union is a member of the G20, as is South Africa,” he added, arguing that the country must be represented at the summit.

Trump announced last year that South Africa, a G20 member, would not be invited to this year’s gathering. The US president justified the decision with repeated allegations that the country was committing genocide against its white population.

The office of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa strongly rejected the accusations, describing them as “disinformation and distortions about our country.”

In a separate and widely criticised move, Trump invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to the G20 summit — a decision that has drawn sharp criticism from other member states.

Putin is expected to travel to China next month to attend an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum summit, but may not attend the G20 gathering, Bloomberg News reported last month.

The Trump administration has significantly reduced the number of refugees admitted to the United States, while prioritising the entry of white South Africans — a marked shift from previous US policy, which accepted tens of thousands of people fleeing conflict and persecution.