The so-called land question has been a decades-long dilemma for South Africa. A new law seeks to right some of the wrongs of apartheid but has prompted claims from critics that it discriminates against White farmers.

Trump said South Africa was pursuing what he called "unjust and immoral practices" against the white minority Afrikaner community and by filing a genocide case against Israel in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in December 2023.

South Africa's G20 presidency was meant to be an opportunity to get rich, powerful nations to pay attention to poorer countries' concerns such as burgeoning inequality, crippling sovereign debt and a lack of progress in the fight against climate change.