McKenzie will not reimburse Olympics silver medalist Jo-Ane Van Dyk

SA Rugby

Cape Town — Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie, has backtracked on his original promise to reimburse South Africa’s Olympics silver medalist, Jo-Ane Van Dyk.

Following the conclusion of the Olympics last month, McKenzie was on hand to congratulate South Africa’s medalists as they arrived back in South Africa. He was particularly vocal about Jo-Ane Van Dyk, who walked away with an impressive silver medal in the women’s javelin throw.

McKenzie made a public promise to Van Dyk to reimburse her family for the costs it took to send her to the Olympics, as she was forced to fund her trip.

“I had a long chat and listened to her and I promise we are going to make sure we give her father his money back. I am told her father put himself in debt and I commit today publicly the department should give him his money back because that investment paid off,” said McKenzie.

According to TimesLIVE, McKenzie has now backtracked on his comments to reimburse Van Dyk and blamed it on a miscommunication. The Democratic Alliance’s Liam Jacobs brought it to McKenzie’s attention that the Van Dyk family have not been reimbursed yet.

“The family of Van Dyk has not been reimbursed. After the 2024 Paris Olympics, there have been further engagements with the parties and it emerged there was miscommunication on this matter,” McKenzie said.

McKenzie acknowledged that Van Dyk did not receive support during the qualification period from the South African Olympic Committee’s (SASCOC) Bidvest Operation Excellence Programme (OpEx).

“It is true Van Dyk was not part of the [OpEx] programme, which provides dedicated support to athletes in preparation for major competitions. These athletes are identified by their national federations based on their performances at the time of the call to be considered for [OpEx] and sometimes excellent athletes are missed, which can also be rectified later,” he said.

He added that Van Dyk would receive support in future competitions from both SASCOC and Athletics South Africa (ASA) to help her prepare for future major competitions.

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Compiled by Matthew Petersen

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