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Minister Gayton McKenzie tabling his budget
Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie tabled his budget in the National Assembly in Cape Town this morning. While there were several rejections to his proposals from opposition parties, all members agreed that sports, arts and culture are an integral part of the country’s social fabric.
Banyana Banyana proudly flew the South African flag last night when they trounced Mali 4-nil at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, booking their place in the quarterfinals in some style.
To maintain South Africa’s success on the global stage and keep athletes on par with the best in the world, the bulk of budget has been allocated to sport and development.
“Access and opportunity matter in the most talented need an opportunity this is why to invest in all our talent both in the sport and in the arts and culture and preserving our heritage the department has a budget of R6.3 billion over the 2025/2026 financial year under programme two recreation, development and sports promotion. We are allocating R1.2 billion to keep supporting sport in our country, we are allocating R98.5 million towards federations support. One of the biggest changes coming for the federations will be an office building to share,” says McKenzie.
Despite criticism, Minister McKenzie is adamant that Formula One will return to South African shores. The Kyalami racetrack in Midrand has been approved by the FIA to upgrade their circuit to Grade 1 status, the highest international standard to host a F1 Race and is the front-runner.
“I stand here today to tell you that the FIA the FIFA of motorsport has given the green light for the upgrading of the track, we have multiple meetings with the management of F1 with the crucial one happening in the next two weeks for those who say the country can’t afford to host the F1. The country can’t afford not to host F1 when you set the bar high for a country as we have done in the past, you can’t afford to take the bar back down. We hosted the best FIFA World Cup that put us on the way, we can’t turn back now,” McKenzie added.
R32 million has been budgeted to help develop the cultural and creative industries and the department is also looking to create around 10 000 jobs in the arts sector through grant funding.
