A growing political storm is brewing over the nearly R31 million spent on South Africa’s involvement in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with opposition parties demanding answers on who travelled, how public money was spent and why key details remain outstanding.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) and ActionSA have intensified pressure on Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie after a parliamentary reply revealed that an estimated R30.9 million was spent on travel, hospitality, match tickets and related World Cup programmes.
While the figure has now been placed on record, both parties argue that the disclosure has raised more questions than it has answered.
At the centre of the dispute is the composition of the South African contingent and the department’s inability, at this stage, to provide a complete breakdown of individual costs.
The DA said that after months of seeking clarity, the department initially supplied only broad expenditure figures before later confirming that the group included 20 artists and 18 departmental officials.
According to the party, the officials included McKenzie, two support staff members, the department’s Director-General and a 14-member project team, whose travel-related costs were estimated at just under R8 million.
However, the DA said the exact number of people who formed part of the broader programme, as well as their identities and the final audited cost of the initiative, remain unknown.
The party has indicated that it will submit further parliamentary questions and seek to have McKenzie appear before Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Sport, Arts and Culture to account for the expenditure.
ActionSA echoed those concerns, questioning whether the expenditure represented value for money at a time when many communities continue to struggle with inadequate sporting infrastructure and national sporting bodies face ongoing funding pressures.
The party also took issue with McKenzie’s disclosure that his personal costs had not yet been separated from the wider expenditure, meaning his individual bill to taxpayers could not yet be determined.
In response, the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC) rejected suggestions that all participants should be grouped together as a single delegation.
The department said the programme involved officials, artists, cultural performers, football legends, media partners, sponsored supporters and implementation teams, with some participants funded by government and others by sponsors or partner organisations.
“Some people travelled on DSAC funds, some through sponsorships, and some through implementing partners. It would be misleading to collapse all of them into one list and call them ‘the delegation’,” the department said.
DSAC said the World Cup programme focused on fan engagement, cultural promotion, the Aldea Global initiative, activities in Atlanta and Monterrey, and events linked to the 2010 Legends programme.
According to the department, total programme expenditure amounted to R30 945 370.15 and included official travel, hospitality suites, spectator tickets, programme activations and the Legends Exhibition Match.
Travel and related costs for McKenzie, his support staff, the Director-General and the project team were estimated at R7 865 134.97, covering international flights, accommodation, local transport, subsistence and operational support.
The department said it was still reconciling invoices and compiling a detailed per-person breakdown, which would include names, roles, travel costs, accommodation expenses, accreditation fees, ticket allocations, hospitality costs and funding sources.
“The final response must therefore separate State-funded travellers from sponsor-funded participants and implementation partner personnel. That is the only fair way to present the information accurately,” DSAC said.
For now, however, the nearly R31 million World Cup bill remains under the spotlight, with opposition parties insisting that taxpayers deserve a clearer account of where the money went and who benefited from it.
