Gayton McKenzie’s department paid a R82.2 million licence fee to host one golf tournament in South Africa

Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie, revealed that they paid a R82,166,500 licence fee to LIV Golf Events to host one tournament in South Africa.

He shared this information in response to a Parliamentary question from National Assembly member Gift Motaung about the LIV Golf South Africa event.

Motaung asked McKenzie for details about the LIV Golf South Africa tournament, which was held at Steyn City, Johannesburg, from 19 to 22 March 2026. 

The questions focused on the benefits the golf tournament brought to South Africa, especially to poorer township communities.

McKenzie responded, saying his department paid a US$5 million licence fee to LIV Golf Events for the rights to host the LIV Golf South Africa tournament at Steyn City.

“The payment was funded through a Treasury-approved virement. The licence fee should be distinguished from other costs associated with staging the event,” he said.

The other costs included tournament prize money, operational and production costs, hospitality, marketing, security, travel and accommodation.

He explained that the R82.2 million licence fee was a contractual payment for the right to host the event in South Africa.

“No portion of it was allocated to, or disbursed through, community-development programmes,” McKenzie said.

“Therefore, it cannot be disaggregated by province, municipality, community, programme, number of beneficiaries or expenditure.”

“Benefits to rural communities arise from the economic activity generated by the event rather than from the licence fee.”

He said the department does not have records of such benefits, as all appointments related to the event’s delivery were made by LIV Golf.

LIV Golf tournament details to be provided later

McKenzie said that they will submit a signed-off close-out report on the event to the Portfolio Committee on Sport, Arts and Culture by 22 November 2026.

“On 7 October 2026, the Minister wrote to the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee requesting an extension,” he said.

“This was because the Department of Tourism and LIV Golf Events require additional time to compile and verify the information.”

He said that the report will distinguish between benefits verified from source records and projected or estimated economic impact.

This includes the benefits for rural and township communities and will be accompanied by supporting documents.

These documents include the hosting agreement, proof of payment of the licence fee, and the contracts, invoices, and proofs of payment.

“We have also noted the Portfolio Committee’s resolution that it conduct an independent impact assessment of LIV Golf South Africa 2026,” he said.

“The Department of Sport, Arts and Culture did not commission an independent impact assessment before the event.”

The economic impact study by GSIQ, an international research company, was commissioned by LIV Golf.

“Should the Department support a future edition of the event, it will commission an independent impact assessment, including a pre-event baseline,” the Minister said.