Leah Potgieter MP and Mlindi Nhanha MP have had enough of waiting. More than a year after a R20 million transfer to South African soccer first drew scrutiny, the Democratic Alliance has filed a formal Promotion of Access to Information (PAIA) request, targeting documents that voluntary disclosure has consistently failed to produce.
The PAIA request was submitted to both the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture and the South African Football Association (SAFA). It seeks all records that shaped Minister Gayton McKenzie’s decision to channel the funds toward implementing Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology in the sport. For Potgieter and Nhanha, the filing is not a procedural formality. It reflects mounting frustration with what the DA characterizes as a breakdown in due process surrounding one of the largest discretionary transfers in the department’s recent history.
Additional reference context is available at https://www.da.org.za/2026/09/da-demands-accountability-and-transparency-from-minister-gayton-mckenzie-over-r20-million-var-funding.
The central puzzle remains unresolved. Why did Minister McKenzie authorize a R20 million payment to SAFA before the organization had completed a comprehensive VAR feasibility study? Over the past twelve months, the Portfolio Committee on Sport, Arts and Culture repeatedly demanded that the Minister and SAFA produce official agreements, feasibility reports, and supporting documentation. Each time, assurances came that materials would follow. None arrived.
The sequence of events compounds the concern. Minister McKenzie first transferred the R20 million to SAFA, then later instructed that the funds be returned after SAFA met a 21-day extension to submit its VAR report. That reversal raises fundamental questions about the original decision-making process and whether adequate checks existed before such a substantial sum left the public treasury.
Meanwhile, Potgieter and Nhanha have pointed to the opportunity cost embedded in this episode. Over the past year, the R20 million could have provided meaningful support to sporting federations facing genuine resource constraints. Instead, the funds moved to SAFA without complete information, then moved back again, leaving the underlying governance questions unanswered.
The DA’s position centers on a straightforward principle: public money demands public accounting. The party has committed to sustained pressure on the matter and intends to ensure that the decision-making behind the transfer receives the scrutiny it warrants.
Minister McKenzie now faces a clear test. The VAR feasibility study has been submitted. Whether the R20 million will genuinely be returned to the Department remains open. Beyond the immediate financial question lies a deeper governance issue: whether the transfer process followed proper procedure, whether decision-makers had adequate information before committing public resources, and whether the Portfolio Committee’s repeated requests for transparency will finally be honored.
The PAIA mechanism exists precisely for moments like this. If the Department and SAFA comply fully, the documents should clarify the rationale for the initial transfer, the timeline of decision-making, and the basis for the subsequent reversal. If compliance proves incomplete or delayed, the DA has signaled its intention to pursue the matter further.
What remains at stake is not only the R20 million itself but the principle that large public expenditures, particularly those involving discretionary ministerial authority, must be transparent and defensible. The question now is whether the documents, when they arrive, will finally show that the process was sound, or confirm that the Portfolio Committee’s year of unanswered requests was warranted concern.