Who dropped the ball? Inside the dispute over Jeffreys Bay’s exit from the WSL 2026 tour

A review of public statements and official communications surrounding the removal of Jeffreys Bay from the 2026 World Surf League (WSL) Championship Tour reveals unresolved contradictions between the WSL, local government and South Africa’s national sports authorities.

At the centre of the dispute is the question of responsibility. According to Surfing South Africa (SSA), the recognised governing body for surfing in the country, the private entity responsible for submitting applications and securing national approvals for the event is the WSL itself.

Johnny Bakker, a director of Surfing South Africa (SSA), confirmed that no such applications were made. “WSL has made no applications to SSA in the past, nor to the department, via government regulations,” Bakker told Sunday Times.

On January 25, the WSL announced via its official Facebook account that Jeffreys Bay would not feature on the 2026 Championship Tour, framing the decision as part of maintaining a 12-event calendar.

The statement presented the exclusion as a scheduling decision within the league’s discretion and made no reference to funding, applications or regulatory processes.

In the early hours of January 26, the WSL published a promotional video celebrating the inclusion of a New Zealand event. The video reinforced a narrative of routine tour evolution, again without reference to Jeffreys Bay or South Africa. At that stage, no indication was given that unresolved governance or funding issues had influenced the decision.

Later on January 26, Kouga Mayor Hattingh Bornman publicly challenged that framing, attributing the cancellation to the absence of a confirmed funding commitment and implying failure at national government level.

“I’m afraid I have some bad news. The WSL just announced they will not be coming to Jeffreys Bay this year,” Bornman said in a statement. He described the decision as devastating for the town and its local economy, adding: “We are extremely sad about this, but it is not through a lack of trying.”

The Jeffreys Bay event has historically carried economic significance for the region, particularly for tourism-linked businesses during the competition period.

Bornman further stated: “As a municipality, we are spending more than R2m every year to make sure this event stays in J-Bay.”

He attributed the outcome to unmet commitments from higher levels of government, stating: “Unfortunately, money speaks louder than words, and over the last three or four years, there have been a lot of discussions with provincial and national government and a lot of verbal commitments made. But when we need to action those commitments, it’s unfortunately not coming through.”

Bornman did not specify what funding was expected, from which department, nor what formal processes had been followed to secure it.

The following day, the department of sport, arts and culture (DSAC) issued a statement rejecting the mayor’s account, stating that no formal application for national support had been submitted.

And for Cabinet to approve that, you need to apply to me, the minister of sport, arts and culture, and I must take it to Cabinet. Let them show you where they have applied. They never applied. They dropped the ball. Now they want to blame me.

—  Sport minister Gayton McKenzie

On January 29, DSAC minister Gayton McKenzie reinforced that position in a video statement, denying national responsibility and accusing municipal leadership of politicising the issue. He did not address whether any informal or partial submissions had been received, nor whether engagement had occurred outside a formal application process.

“For you to have a national event in this country, it is only the Cabinet that can approve that,” McKenzie said.

“And for Cabinet to approve that, you need to apply to me, the minister of sport, arts and culture, and I must take it to Cabinet. Let them show you where they have applied. They never applied. They dropped the ball. Now they want to blame me.”

The minister added that his department had provided Surfing South Africa with R800,000 in funding and said: “They mustn’t come and play politics in my portfolio.”

DSAC placed responsibility for the outcome with the municipality and event organisers, but did not clarify whether any engagements occurred outside the Cabinet process described.

Graham Stapelberg, president of WSL Africa and head of touring, said the organisation did not intend for the matter to become politicised.

Referring to engagement with DSAC, Stapelberg said the WSL had presented to the minister’s chief of staff the previous year and regarded those discussions as ongoing. “As far as we were concerned, those were ongoing conversations, but they did not progress further before we staged the event in 2025,” he said, adding that discussions continued thereafter.

“Unfortunately, the DA’s position of dragging politics into this was never the intention of what we wanted to achieve,” Stapelberg said.

He added that the WSL had been engaging with government at both provincial and national levels since 2022 to secure the long-term sustainability of the event, which he said had been under financial pressure for several years. “We have been trying to secure government support for quite some time, so this is not a new issue,” he said.

Stapelberg stressed that the organisation wanted to avoid being drawn into local political disputes in order to keep channels open for future engagement. “We want to be able to bring the event back to Jeffreys Bay,” he said, describing it as “one of the best right-hand point breaks in the world”.

He added: “We were never given the opportunity to apply for funding.”

SSA, which falls under DSAC, has confirmed that it receives consistent annual funding, which is applied for on a yearly basis. “Government is extremely supportive,” Bakker said.

According to Bakker, any application to host an international sporting event must comply with the Bidding and Hosting of International Sport and Recreational Events Regulations. He stated that any funding application from an event organiser would have had to be submitted through Surfing South Africa and confirmed that no such application from WSL exists.

“The minister never had the ball,” Bakker said.

“The applications require detailed financial statements explaining how the money will be used for development. Those submissions are assessed, and the department of sport makes the final decision,” he said.

Bakker described the politicisation of the cancellation as unfortunate. “The cancellation of the event is a major setback for everyone in Jeffreys Bay, but we must remember that we are dealing with taxpayers’ money,” he said.

He also emphasised the distinction between spheres of government. “There is a big difference between local government and national government. Any funding paid by the minister has to follow a defined process. The minister cannot simply give money away.”

In response to the conflicting claims, formal right-of-reply requests were sent in January to both DSAC and Kouga local municipality, seeking clarification on application processes, timelines, recognised event organisers and intergovernmental engagements. At the time of writing, written responses from both institutions remain pending.

The WSL has not publicly indicated when the decision to exclude Jeffreys Bay was finalised, nor whether South African authorities were formally notified prior to the public announcement. There was also no response to a request for clarification.

Separately, a sworn affidavit filed by Kouga municipality in response to a PAIA request confirms that certain historical water-sports events policy records could not be located, highlighting gaps in documentary record-keeping.

Until the WSL is able to produce documentary evidence showing that a compliant application was submitted through the prescribed national process, responsibility for the loss of the Jeffreys Bay event rests with the organisation.