JOHANNESBURG - South Africa will hand over the G20 presidency to the United States in a low-key manner, likely on Tuesday, Zane Dangor, South Africa's G20 sherpa and director-general of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), said Monday.

"The agreement is that we should do it low-key. It's not just a South African issue; the US doesn't want a very big handover event," said Dangor, adding that the handover would be conducted at the level of a senior DIRCO official to the US charge d'affaires.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday formally closed the summit in Johannesburg by striking a wooden gavel, following G20 tradition.

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"This gavel of this G20 summit formally closes this summit and now moves on to the next president of the G20, which is the US, where we shall see each other again next year," Ramaphosa said in his closing remarks.

Normally the gavel is handed to the leader of the next presidency. However, Vincent Magwenya, spokesperson for President Ramaphosa, said Saturday the South African president will not hand over to a junior embassy official. "It's a breach of protocol that is not going to be accommodated or allowed in this instance. It is a position of principle."

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"America chose to boycott the summit. That is their choice and that is their prerogative to do so. But what cannot happen is a breach of protocol being forced," Magwenya noted.