Gayton McKenzie spent R1.1 million on himself for the 2026 World Cup trip

Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie spent R1.1 million on flights, accommodation, and insurance for his 2026 World Cup trip.

McKenzie shared this information in a press statement about his department’s spending connected to the FIFA World Cup 2026.

He previously revealed that the trip cost R31 million. However, he clarified that he did not spend all this money on himself.

“This money was distributed among 75 people, along with the project delivery service provider, with as much as half of the rest of the total delegation sponsored,” he said.

“My own documented travel for this trip, flights, accommodation and insurance, as invoiced by the department’s travel agent, came to R1,058,379.75,” he said.

“That was my full personal footprint within the department’s total travel spend for the delegation, over a five-week period.”

“This included a mandatory trip home in mid-June for attendance of the official June 16 commemoration in Soweto.”

He added that, rather than a dedicated driver in every city, he took lifts with his adviser in their respective rental cars over the period.

“When the need arose, I used Ubers and taxis but did not opt for dedicated, pricey official ground transport options,” he said.

“I turned down expensive state-protocol lounges in every city we visited, because I wanted to keep costs down.”

“I even turned down claiming my own subsistence and travel allowance of R55,000 for these five weeks of travel, for the same reason.”

He added that when a big delegation of his family joined him on part of this trip, they paid for their own flights and accommodation.

“Not one rand of that was state money. For the record, I have not had the state pay for the travel of any member of my family, since I became a minister,” he said.

“I have seen people online claiming that the state paid for my family, and targeting them. These are lies.”