Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said on Monday that US President Donald Trump had no right to bar South African President Cyril Ramaphosa from attending the G20 summit.

Speaking in Hannover, Germany, alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Lula said: “I told Ramaphosa that he must attend the G20. He must attend. He can’t not go just because Trump said he wouldn’t.”

Relations have been strained between South Africa and Trump’s administration, which expelled former Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool following his criticism of Trump.

Trump has targeted South Africa and cut all financial assistance after accusing the government of allowing a “white genocide” against the white Afrikaner minority group, claiming they were being racially targeted and killed. Trump implemented a programme offering migration and asylum to white Afrikaners who feel persecuted in South Africa.

South Africa and the US are also at odds over South Africa’s decision to pursue an International Court of Justice case accusing Israel of genocide against Palestinians