The MK party has demanded a complete and public accounting of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture’s R33 million expenditure on South Africa’s 2026 FIFA World Cup programme, arguing the department has failed to uphold constitutional principles of accountability and transparency. Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie, disclosed in a parliamentary reply on 15 July that the department spent approximately R31 million on the initiative, while opposition parties including the Democratic Alliance (DA) and ActionSA have also insisted on a detailed breakdown of expenses.<\/p>\n
Minister McKenzie has insisted that all spending was above board, stating the amount was “openly disclosed in a parliamentary reply where there was nothing to hide.” He told Parliament that only 75 of the 151 South African delegates were directly funded by the department. McKenzie said, “If any person believes money was improperly allocated, appropriated or spent, or that I personally benefited in a corrupt manner, I invite them to bring that evidence forward, to Parliament, the Auditor-General, or to any law enforcement body with the power to investigate it.”<\/p>\n
The Department maintains the expenditure was lawful, transparent, and in line with its mandate to promote sport and arts at an international level. However, the department has not yet published a detailed breakdown of how the R31 million was allocated, which has fuelled criticism from opposition parties and prompted further calls for disclosure.<\/p>\n
MK party spokesperson Sifiso Mahlangu accused the Department of “flouting constitutional principles of accountability and transparency” and called for full disclosure of the expenditure. Both the DA and ActionSA have echoed these concerns and demanded a comprehensive accounting of all costs linked to the World Cup programme.<\/p>\n
The lack of detail about spending has highlighted ongoing public concerns over government use of funds. Critics argue that, without clarity, there is no way to assess whether the spending of R33 million ultimately benefitted South African football development or communities. As of 30 July, the department had not published the full breakdown requested publicly by MPs and several political parties.<\/p>\n
Further details are expected following parliamentary follow-ups and potential review by the Auditor-General, as questions about the scale and impact of the spending continue.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Iqembu le-MK lifuna incazelo yomphakathi enemininingwane ye-R33 million esetshenziswe nguMnyango Wezemidlalo, Ubuciko Namasiko ohlelweni lweNdebe Yomhlaba ye-FIFA.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[697,698,699,701,97,700],"class_list":["post-984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-citizen","tag-department-of-sport-arts-and-culture","tag-fifa-world-cup","tag-gayton-mckenzie","tag-government-spending","tag-mk-party","tag-transparency"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n