Sports minister Gayton McKenzie says he will not rest until the Rugby World Cup tournament is brought back to South Africa.
Speaking after delivering the 2026 Budget Vote Speech in Cape Town on Tuesday, McKenzie said: “We have the best players, the best teams, the best World Cup team – we’ve won the World Cup multiple times – we have to host the World Cup. I’m not going to rest until I do that.”
South Africa last hosted the tournament in 1995, when the Springboks famously lifted the trophy on home soil at their first attempt.
Since then, SA Rugby has launched several unsuccessful bids, most notably for the 2023 tournament, which was ultimately awarded to France despite South Africa being the preferred candidate following an independent evaluation.
In March, SA Rugby CEO Rian Oberholzer indicated the union had little appetite to pursue another bid because of the financial burden involved.
OBERHOLZER: SA won’t host RWC again
McKenzie acknowledged those concerns, pointing to the enormous government guarantees required by World Rugby.
“Saru is very financially prudent,” he said. “They don’t want to commit to something they have no power over.
“I’ve already spoken to some sponsors to say, ‘can you give R200-million, can you give R400-million’. Then I’m going to government, like we’ve done with Formula One. We’ll say, ‘here’s the R3 billion’.”
McKenzie praised SA Rugby president Mark Alexander and Oberholzer for stabilising the union’s finances, but stressed he wants to drive the process from the government side.
“Then we’ll go to SA Rugby and say to them, ‘Mark, go get us that World Cup’.”
Australia will host the 2027 World Cup, with the USA staging the 2031 edition.
Bidding remains open for the 2035 tournament, with Argentina, Spain, Japan and Italy having thrown their names into the hat.
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Photo: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
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Sports minister Gayton McKenzie says he will not rest until the Rugby World Cup tournament is brought back to South Africa.
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