"There are some gatekeepers at SAFA who are corrupt and don't want VAR to happen." That's not a disgruntled fan venting on social media. That's Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie, at a public event, naming the rot inside South African football's governing body.
The context: R20 million in government funding has been sitting completely untouched in a SAFA bank account since March. Not a rand spent on actual VAR infrastructure. The only public money used so far is R765,257 on a fact-finding trip to Spain in November 2025. Meanwhile, refereeing controversies continue to define the Betway Premiership season, and the technology that was supposed to fix all of this is still a PowerPoint away from existence.
How the money got here — and went nowhere
The timeline is damning in its own quiet way. McKenzie first met the SAFA NEC in October 2024 and got their formal buy-in. A Request for Proposals went out in April 2025. A tender evaluation committee was formed. A technical mission went to Spain. SAFA submitted a three-year implementation plan valued at R54.7 million that envisaged training starting July 2026, experimental VAR in the 2026/27 Nedbank Cup semi-finals, and full rollout from 2027/28.
Then everything stalled.
DSAC asked for a written progress report in April. Nothing came. In May, SAFA's NEC approved the project but sent the budget back for yet another review. By July, CEO Lydia Monyepao was confirming that the department's funds hadn't been touched. On August 13, McKenzie formally demanded the R20 million back. SAFA's response, five days later, was to ask for 21 more days to sort out their internal budget verification.
That grace period expires September 9.
What happens if SAFA misses the deadline
McKenzie has been unusually candid for a government minister — both in his frustration and his self-accountability. "The disappointment with the pace of progress belongs to me as much as to anyone else," he said, adding that he wanted to apologise to South Africans. He's also already in contact with FIFA about an alternative implementation route, should SAFA fail to deliver a credible procurement timetable by the deadline.
That's a significant escalation. If McKenzie pulls the funding and goes directly to FIFA and CAF, SAFA's authority over the VAR rollout could be effectively sidelined — an embarrassment for an association that publicly boasted about being a continental leader just months ago.
For anyone tracking the Betway Premiership, this uncertainty matters. Title races and relegation battles have already been shaped by refereeing decisions this season. VAR isn't just a governance talking point — it's the technology that would materially change how results are decided. Every week it doesn't arrive is another week where a clearly wrong call stands.
The money is still there. The will, on McKenzie's side at least, appears genuine. What's missing is any evidence that SAFA can convert intent into action.
"VAR must come to our football. If it cannot come the way we planned, it will come another way. But come it will," McKenzie said. September 9 will tell us which way that is.
