The DA has officially filed a complaint with the Public Protector against Sports, Arts, and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie, alleging that he violated his oath of office to benefit his inner circle and the PA party.

The complaint accuses McKenzie of breaching the Executive Members’ Ethics Act and the Executive Ethics Code through systemic maladministration, abuse of power, and improper benefit, arguing a potential conflict between the Minister’s executive responsibilities and his party-political interests.

According to DA spokesperson on Sports, Arts, and Culture Leah Potgieter, the primary complaint centres on McKenzie appointing key PA members to strategic positions.

McKenzie appointed a six-member adjudication panel for the 2025/26 Mzansi Golden Economy fund.

Three members – Steve Motale, Vernon Vraagom, and Francisco Tejada – were active members of the PA at the time of their appointment.

Motale was simultaneously serving as the PA’s national spokesperson.

Departmental leadership has reportedly linked the appointments directly to the Minister. Both the Deputy Minister and the department’s director-general confirmed that McKenzie personally established the panel's requirements and handpicked its members.

"This means that the Minister determined the rules, selected the panel, and appointed active members of his own political party to decide how nearly R110-million would be distributed," Potgieter stated.

The DA highlights that there is still no transparent, full accounting of where the R110-million was distributed.

While the R110-million fund was established to uplift artists and expand the creative economy, the DA contends it was instead weaponised to create financial and political opportunities for the PA.

McKenzie is facing intense scrutiny after the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture spent roughly R31-million on a delegation to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Following public outcry over the disparity, he swiftly approved R3-million in emergency funding to fully fund the National Hockey Teams' World Cup campaigns.

The expenditure breakdown has sparked a fierce national debate regarding the equitable distribution of sports funding in South Africa.

While athletes in various sporting codes are frequently forced to hold personal fundraisers and seek GoFundMe donations to afford international plane tickets, the government’s 2026 FIFA World Cup delegation managed to spend about R31-million.

The official travel and accommodation bill for the trip accounted for nearly R7.9-million, used to transport 18 government officials and 20 artists.

Opposition parties, including the DA and ActionSA, have strongly condemned the expenditure.

Both parties have formally demanded that the Minister provide a transparent, line-by-line accounting of the World Cup spending, citing a suspicion that these funds could have been better allocated to struggling local sporting federations.

The R3-million funding follows reports that the South African Hockey Association was facing a funding shortfall of about R3-million ahead of the tournament, and that members of both national squads risked having to personally cover a significant share of their own World Cup costs.

McKenzie explained that in recent days, national team players have spoken publicly about the financial strain of representing the country, describing out-of-pocket costs running into tens of thousands of rand per player once flights, accommodation, visas and tournament fees are accounted for.

He said the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture will transfer the funding subject to the conclusion of a formal funding agreement and full compliance with all applicable governance, financial management and reporting requirements.

“As a condition of the support, SA Hockey has been required to submit a comprehensive report on the circumstances that gave rise to the shortfall, to account in full for the utilisation of the funds provided, and to submit a Financial Turnaround Plan setting out how it will strengthen its financial sustainability and governance ahead of future international tournaments,” he added.