Gayton McKenzie’s department spent R593,219 for one official to travel to two cities

Sport, Arts and Culture Minister, Gayton McKenzie, is accused of running away from questions about his R31 million FIFA World Cup trip.

Leah Potgieter, a member of the National Assembly and the Portfolio Committee on Sport, Arts and Culture, shed light on the matter.

Potgieter said that McKenzie was expected to account to Parliament for the Department’s World Cup expenditure.

However, as he had done previously, he left before the details were tabled, returning only 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,” she said.

Potgieter said that during the meeting, two flags emerged regarding the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture’s expenditure on its 2026 FIFA World Cup delegation.

• The Minister and seven members of his office made up eight of the 18-member official delegation. That is 44% of the official contingent.

• The flight costs presented to the committee were extraordinary and remain unexplained.

The members from his office included Patriotic Alliance co-founder and Ministerial Adviser Charles Cilliers and Chief of Staff Nontsikelelo Pule.

Others were Pogiso Mokwena, private and appointment secretary Gareth Brown, Yusuf Bodhania, spokesperson Stacey-Lee Khojane, and Melissa Davids.

“The Department could not explain why so many members were required to perform operational functions,” she said.

“Officials could not explain what specialised skills these individuals possessed and why they were selected rather than relevant departmental professionals.”

The other problem was the flight costs. 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 during the event.

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.

This means Parliament still does not know what portion of these amounts represents official travel and what relates to personal travel,

It also raises the question of whether the state initially carried any personal expenses, and whether all amounts have been recovered.

“The Department’s comprehensive close-out report has now effectively been reduced to a draft once these discrepancies were pointed out,” Potgieter said.

She requested an audited and reconciled financial statement relating to the 2026 FIFA World Cup spending.

This should include invoices, itineraries, flight classes and approval records for every member of the official delegation.

She also wants confirmation that all personal travel of the delegates which formed part of the trip has been repaid.

She further wants to know what work and measurable deliverables each official produced beyond their own social media reach.

“South Africans deserve to know precisely who benefited, what they did and what value the country received in return,” she said.