Yesterday afternoon, Minister Gayton McKenzie was expected to account to Parliament for the Department’s World Cup expenditure but, once again, left before the details were tabled, only returning after most Members had posed their questions. In his absence, the details that were tabled were so outrageous that they give the impression that R31 million was squandered by the Minister and his insiders.
During the Portfolio Committee on Sport, Arts and Culture meeting, two serious red flags emerged regarding the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture’s expenditure on its 2026 FIFA World Cup delegation.
Firstly, the Minister and seven members of his own office made up eight of the 18-member official delegation: 44% of the entire official contingent.
These included Patriotic Alliance (PA) co-founder and Ministerial Adviser Charles Cilliers, Chief of Staff Nontsikelelo Pule, Pogiso Mokwena, Private and Appointment Secretary Gareth Brown, Yusuf Bodhania, spokesperson Stacey-Lee Khojane and Melissa Davids.
The Department could not adequately explain why so many members of the Minister’s political office were required to perform operational functions that should ordinarily fall within the Department’s specialist capacity.
For example, the Minister’s Private and Appointment Secretary was tasked with coordinating the Legends Programme and cultural experiences, while administrative staff were deployed to perform fan-park and programme functions.
Officials were unable to explain what specialised skills these individuals possessed, why they were selected rather than relevant departmental professionals, or what measurable outcomes each produced.
Secondly, the flight costs presented to the Committee are extraordinary and remain unexplained.
The airfare attributed to Nontsikelelo Pule was approximately R593,219 for travel to only two cities. Pogiso Mokwena’s airfare amounted to approximately R294,703 for four destinations. Stacey Khojane’s airfare amounted to R181,692 for one city, while Charles Cilliers’ airfare was approximately R375,642 across 3 cities.
By comparison, other delegates reportedly travelled to three destinations for less than R50,000. Gareth Brown’s airfare to Pachuca, Mexico City and Monterrey, for example, was recorded at approximately R46,668.
The Department conceded that the travel agency had not properly reconciled the expenditure and that certain amounts appeared to include personal travel unrelated to the World Cup programme.
This means Parliament still does not know what portion of these extraordinary amounts represents official travel, what relates to personal travel, whether the State initially carried any personal expenses, and whether all amounts have been recovered.
The Department’s so-called comprehensive close-out report has now effectively been reduced to a draft once these discrepancies were pointed out. Officials requested additional time to finalise and audit the figures and were unable to provide complete reconciled breakdowns.
This is despite the Department’s own presentation describing the document as the “final close-out position”, while simultaneously admitting that the expenditure remained subject to final reconciliation.
Minister Gayton McKenzie then excused himself shortly before substantive questioning began at 6:00 pm, ostensibly to attend an urgent presentation. He returned at approximately 8:30 pm, after most members had completed their questioning. His social media account, however, indicated that he potentially left to engage in PA political business in George.
Parliamentary accountability cannot be treated as less important than party-political activity, particularly when the Minister is expected to account for tens of millions of rands.
The DA has demanded:
– A fully audited and reconciled financial statement relating to the World Cup spending.
– The full invoices, itineraries, flight classes and approval records for every member of the official delegation as well as confirmation that all personal travel has been repaid.
– A detailed explanation of why the Minister’s political office consisted of such a large contingent and what qualified them above administrative staff with the relevant skills and experience.
– The specific work and measurable deliverables produced by each official beyond their own social media reach.
The public was promised a strategic international programme. What Parliament received was a delegation heavily populated by the Minister’s own office, inexplicable flight costs, personal travel apparently mixed into official accounts, and figures that are still neither complete nor properly reconciled.
South Africans deserve to know precisely who benefited, what they did and what value the country received in return.