South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has played down his country’s absence from the upcoming G7 summit in France, saying non-attendance by a country outside the bloc should not be seen as a snub. Speaking after reports of a diplomatic dispute over the guest list, Ramaphosa said South Africa was not entitled to attend every G7 gathering because it is not a member.

The row emerged after a South African official said Pretoria had initially been invited but was later left off the final list following what it described as sustained pressure from Washington.

But France said the guest invitations were part of a streamlined format, with Kenya selected alongside India, Brazil and South Korea for the June 15–17 summit in Évian-les-Bains.

Paris has also linked Kenya’s inclusion to its broader diplomatic engagement with Nairobi ahead of the 2026 Africa-France summit, which the two countries agreed to co-host in Kenya under a joint France-Kenya framework announced by the Élysée.

That wider context has helped frame the decision less as an outright rebuke of South Africa and more as a shift in France’s current African outreach.

Still, the episode comes at a sensitive moment for Pretoria’s foreign relations. Ties between South Africa and the United States have been strained by disagreements over trade, land reform, and Pretoria’s wider diplomatic positioning.Ramaphosa nevertheless insisted there had been no confirmed pressure from any country and said South Africa’s relationship with France remained intact.