Dear Editor
The Democratic Alliance (DA) will today expose in Parliament the devastating failures of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture under Minister Gayton McKenzie.
This department should be a place of opportunity where young people are developed, artists are supported, and communities are uplifted. Instead, it has been reduced to a vehicle for political control, crippled by mismanagement, patronage, and reckless financial decisions.
For years the Department has repeated the same cycle of weak reporting, unpaid invoices, missed targets and stalled projects. Athletes and artists are left stranded, heritage projects remain unfinished, and community sports facilities continue to crumble.
Promises are made in fiery speeches and flashy social media posts, but when it comes to delivery there is nothing.
One of the most alarming developments is the withdrawal of support from South Africas flagship cultural festivals. Events like the Cape Town International Jazz Festival, the National Arts Festival, the Suidoosterfees, the KKNK, the Woordfees, Innibos, Aardklop and the Vrystaat Kunstefees have all been left in crisis.
These festivals are the backbone of our cultural economy. They sustain thousands of jobs, bring in billions of rands to local economies, and showcase the very best of South African talent to the world. The Minister ignored their pleas for support, while channeling money towards projects that serve his own political agenda.
The so-called alternative, the Mzansi Golden Economy Fund, has been captured. The adjudication panel is packed with Patriotic Alliance members, including the Minister’s own spokesperson and former councillors. Decisions are no longer about merit but about political loyalty. This is the clearest example yet of a department being used for patronage instead of progress.
The Department has also cut R82 million from sports federations to fund Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology. This was done without transparency, without proper authority, and at the direct expense of grassroots sport. International leagues introduced VAR as part of long term strategies and broader upgrades, not by cutting development programmes that give young people a chance.
The DA demands the reinstatement of funding for proven festivals, full disclosure of all MGE allocations, an independent adjudication process, and a complete account of every budget reallocation including the unlawful diversion of R82 million.
Sports, arts and culture should unite this nation and offer opportunity. Under this Minister they are being used as political weapons. The DA will not allow this betrayal to continue.
Regards
Leah Potgieter MP
DA Spokesperson on Sports, Arts & Culture