 has rejected claims that it caused the World Surf League’s Championship Tour stop at Jeffreys Bay to drop off the 2026 calendar.){kind=link}
By Charmaine Ndlela
The Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC) has rejected claims that it caused the World Surf League’s Championship Tour stop at Jeffreys Bay to drop off the 2026 calendar.
This after the Democratic Alliance (DA) accused sports minister Gayton McKenzie of failing to secure government backing to keep the contest in the country.
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But DSAC said the event — a long-running and popular fixture on the Eastern Cape coast — is privately owned and promoted, and that the decision to relocate the stop was taken by the World Surf League.
“The public narrative being spread now, by contrast, appears to suggest that the Minister has withdrawn support from the event, leading to its demise,” the department said. “This is highly inaccurate.”
The World Surf League said in a statement this week that South Africa would not feature on the 2026 schedule.
“We love J-Bay and the community there, and we’re really grateful to them for welcoming us for so many years,” said WSL CEO Ryan Crosby.
“It’s undoubtedly one of the best waves in the world, and we will continue to explore ways to return in the future. That said, we have made the difficult decision to pull Jeffreys Bay from the 2026 CT calendar. We did our very best to make J-Bay work in 2025, but the financial support isn’t there to make it viable this year.
“Our goal is to set professional surfing up for long-term success and make sure the world’s best surfers have the platform to keep advancing the sport for many years. Achieving this goal requires making decisions that prioritize the health of the overall business,” said Crosby.
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DSAC said the organisers did not submit a formal funding application under the Bidding and Hosting of International Sport and Recreational Events Regulations, which set out the process for seeking national government support, guarantees or inter-departmental services for international events.
“In the case of the World Surf League event, the Department and Ministry did not receive any formal application submitted in accordance with the Regulations,” DSAC said, adding that without such a request “no funding decision was therefore taken at national level”.
But the DA said the loss of the contest reflected a failure of political leadership and follow-through.
“The Democratic Alliance holds Minister Gayton McKenzie directly responsible for this failure,” the party in the Eastern Cape said via an initial statement.
On Thursday, the party said it would use Parliament to interrogate the “gap” between public assurances and concrete outcomes.
“The DA does not accept that the Minister’s public engagements and behind-the-scenes assurances do not translate into action once the spotlight fades,” it said.
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DSAC said it continued to support surfing development through Surfing South Africa.
“DSAC remains committed to supporting sport development and the hosting of international events in South Africa through transparent, lawful, and sustainable processes,” it said.
The South African stop has been shifted to New Zealand.
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