COMMENT
It was not so long ago that Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie got as good as he gave.
While speaking, earlier this year, at the launch of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2027 — to be hosted next year in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia — McKenzie looked over to his Namibian counterpart, Deputy Minister of Sport, Youth and National Service Dino Ballotti, and joked. much to the delight of the room: “The minister is a very good friend of mine, but whenever he visits me in his personal capacity, he always buys biltong to take back."
Ballotti bided his time and, when his moment came, jabbed back: “As my final statement, we can only hope that the honourable Minister McKenzie does not spend R31 million for the fans at this World Cup.”
Perhaps the clapback did not fit the heckle, but in that moment, the room was left agape with shock, flabbergasted reactions escaping those in attendance, followed by laughter. In that social setting, it was a form of accountability McKenzie could not escape.
McKenzie is not every person's can of pilchards. He is certainly charismatic and pragmatic, but he can also be boisterous and brash. Yet, for all his flaws, there is a willingness to face public scrutiny head-on — even when it is about questionable spending.
If only Safa shared that same appetite for accountability.
Earlier this year, McKenzie — under the auspices of the Department of Sport — transferred R20 million to the organisation to implement VAR into South Africa’s top-flight footballing structures. Previously, discussions and planning around the technology’s deployment in South Africa had begun in 2024.
Safa have since been on fact-finding missions — they confirmed spending over R760 000 for a trip to Spain in November 2025 — and reviewed the VAR budget thrice, with training scheduled to start this past July. This year’s Nedbank Cup semi-finals were earmarked as the initial deployment of the system, with the ongoing 2026/2027 Premiership season targeted for the full rollout.
That now seems unlikely, despite the protestations of Safa that all is on track. The funds — public money, mind you — sit idle, collecting interest.
When the Department of Sport ring-fenced those funds specifically for VAR, it eliminated the association’s favourite historical excuse: a lack of money. Meanwhile, match after match, egregious refereeing blunders continue to derail Premiership fixtures, rob clubs of results, and stain the integrity of the local game.
The money to fix the problem is sitting right there on the table; money awarded to Safa to uplift our football and align it with current international standards and practices. Instead, Safa continue to drag their feet regarding its intended use.
It shows a level of arrogance that can only be afforded to an administration that understands its political and economic standing as the custodians of the largest sport in South Africa. Be assured, there are other sporting codes and cultural entities that would beg away their last bit of dignity to receive such a handsome allowance.
Most recently, our senior men’s and women’s hockey teams had to ask the public for help just to get to the FIH Hockey World Cup in Belgium and The Netherlands. They eventually received a government grant to help with that objective.
Elsewhere, our track and field athletes routinely face massive financing hurdles to reach major athletic meets in their quest to represent Team South Africa.
So, while South African artists, performers, and world-class athletes swallow their pride to pull off public crowdfunding campaigns just to survive, Safa sits on a multi-million-rand government allocation like a dysfunctional municipality hoarding unspent infrastructure grants.
Their excuse that the money remains untouched is equally insulting. If they were a municipality underspending on their budget, the South African public would be outraged, and the Auditor-General would question their capacity, urgency, and competence to execute basic service delivery.
In this regard, McKenzie is completely justified in demanding accountability and imposing a deadline of September 9 — just three days before Safa hold their Elective Congress — for either the return of the funds or the execution of their plans. This is, after all, not a private enterprise using private funds.
It directly impacts the expenditure of the Department of Sport, as well as McKenzie’s fiscal responsibility and transparency to the nation and the National Government — something Safa seems to hold in scant respect.
South African football fans deserve better than an administration that treats R20 million in public funds like an optional gift rather than an urgent duty. McKenzie’s line in the sand is a necessary first step toward dismantling the culture of impunity that has stalled the domestic game for far too long.
If Safa cannot find the competence to spend money explicitly given to help fix South African football, they must hand the funds back to those who will — or hand over the keys to an administration that actually cares about the future of the sport.
Ultimately, Safa’s inertia is more than just administrative incompetence — it is an insult to every taxpayer, every fan, and every athlete currently begging for bare-minimum support in other sports.