Amid mounting pressure over the price tag for Minister Gayton McKenzie’s FIFA World Cup 2026 delegation, the Democratic Alliance (DA) has submitted a PAIA application to the President of South Africa, seeking full disclosure of the request, approval and all correspondence between the Minister and President on the month-long travel bonanza.
Ministers are required to seek approval for travel abroad from the President in terms of the Ministerial Handbook. It further states that a Minister may be accompanied by no more than 2 support staff.
Following the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture’s presentation of its draft World Cup expenditure report on Tuesday, 25 August, a serious concern emerged: a large proportion of the Minister’s 18-member official team was drawn from his own office.
The question becomes: why was the Minister allowed to take so many of his own ministerial staff with him for such a long period, and did the Presidency approve of this?
Some of the Minister’s 18-member official team included the following Ministerial support staff:
– Nontsikelelo Pule – The Minister’s Chief of Staff.
– Gareth Brown – Private and Appointment Secretary to the Minister.
-Yusuf Bodhania – Ministerial Support.
– Stacey-Lee Khojane – Spokesperson in the Minister’s office.
– Melissa Davids – Ministerial Support.
During Tuesday’s meeting, the Department was unable to clarify why numerous members of the Minister’s office were performing operational tasks normally assigned to the Department’s specialists.
The approval of their inclusion warrants urgent scrutiny. The Minister might not regret his delegation’s month-long taxpayer-funded World Cup trip, but his apparent disregard for accountability warrants further investigation.