Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie. (Photo by Oupa Bopape/Gallo Images via Getty Images)
SCORE: C+
It was a blessing for South Africans and foreign nationals when Gayton McKenzie was named minister of sports, arts and culture instead of home affairs. And it was surprising when the Patriotic Alliance leader acted decisively by pulling the plug on “superfan” funding. Last year, R1.3 million of taxpayers’ money was spent on sending superfans Mama Joy Chauke and Botha Msila to the Rugby World Cup in France. McKenzie deemed that wasteful and said the money should be assigned to school sports and grassroots football, rather than on “celebrity” marketing. He also cut funding to artists who were still holding on to department support for Covid-19. But McKenzie had his own superfandom to account for when it was revealed that a trip to France during the Olympic Games cost more than R800 000. He was subsequently transparent in breaking down the costs of what was mostly government travel. He less elegantly dealt with the controversy of Chidimma Adetshina competing for the title of Miss South Africa. He will say that his “funny vibes” were vindicated, but his goading — which triggered an avalanche of online abuse — was anything but ministerial.