As he welcomed home South Africa’s Olympic team yesterday, Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie promised that, for the next Games in Los Angeles in 2028, the government would give its full backing to SA athletes and promised to double the team’s size from the current 150 to 300. McKenzie had been moved and angered by the revelation that javelin silver medallist Jo-Ane van Dyk had received not a single cent in financial support from the government and that her family had to pay for her through years of training and competing leading up of Paris 2024. ‘I am going to make it happen’ “I want to publicly say this today: as SA, we have the responsibility to take no less than 300 Olympians in 2028.
It’s a promise I am going to make it happen,” the minister told journalists at OR Tambo International Airport. “We are going to find the Tatjanas in the rural areas. “Tatjana Smith might retire from professional swimming but she is not retiring from helping us look for the Tatjanas in Soweto, Eldorado Park and Krugersdorp.
ALSO READ: Tatjana Smith wants younger swimmers to get more support “We are a sporting nation and sports unite us.” McKenzie thanked Smith for bringing the country together with her achievements at the Olympics. “You have not just achieved on and off the field.
When you were swimming, there was not a house in SA that was sitting. You had us on our feet and for that I came today to say thank you. President Cyril Ramaphosa told me to.