Sports fan Mama Joy – real name Joy Chauke – received more funds from the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture and other public funds than Olympic gold-medallist swimmer Tatjana Smith, a report by Renaldo Gouws has claimed.

The star athlete announced her decision to switch her sporting nationality from South Africa to the Netherlands after voicing grievances to the aquatic governing body, Swimming South Africa (SSA).

The Minister has since issued a statement, wishing Tatjana well. He also, despite public blame, stated that the 29-year-old’s departure should “not be turned into a political weapon” against his office.

MAMA JOY TRENDS AMID TATJANA SMITH NEWS

In a YouTube video, Renaldo Gouws claimed that Mama Joy had received more public funding from the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture than decorated swimmer, Tatjana Smith.

The FF Plus member – whose X spat with Mama Joy trended on the social media app in 2023 – claimed that the superfan had been the beneficiary of the department’s budget to travel to multiple international sporting competitions, at their expense. 

Chauk received around R700 000 to attend the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France. She also attended the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, which she claims was paid for by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Gouws said of the link between the two females: “One is supported by the government through millions of rands, and the other is struggling to get funding, and their parents have to put in their own money for this athlete.

“What infuriates me is that there is a lot of arrogance from Mama Joy, who demands to be sent across the world to show how proud she is of South Africa, yet has never won a medal.

“She’s been to various events, and it’s cost the taxpayers millions 

“When Tatjana wins a gold medal, she gets R700 00…she gets less money than what a superfan gets to sit in the stadium on their a** in the stadium and cheer for athletes

“This is astounding”

GAYTON IN THE FIRING LINE

DA’s Liam Jacobs also weighed in on Tatjana Smith’s decision with his own video, which criticised Minister Gayton McKenzie over the management of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture.

He also touched on a report that SSA pay tens of thousands, from their own money, to travel to the upcoming World Aquatics Swimming Championships in Beijing.

“This department was able to find R31 million to send a massive delegation to the [2026 FIFA] World Cup, a 151-person delegation. They were able to spend R3 million on 294 match tickets, and R10 million on exhibition spaces.

“This is not an allegation of corruption – this is to say, what are the priorities?”

“One side of the ledger speaks about hospitality, entertainment, exhibitions and World Cup trips. And the other side of the ledger speaks out about athletes that have to fund themselves to get to international tournaments to represent our beautiful country.

“That is not a money problem, but a priorities problem”.

OLYMPIC SWIMMER SPENT R10 MILLION ON HER CAREER

Tatjana Smith has opened up about how her parents and support networks had to fork out around R10 million over the years to fund her 16-year professional swimming career.

“The reason for my success has purely been because of the people in my support group” she told Carte Blanche in a recent investigation.

In it, Tatjana also revealed that she only started receiving meaningful commercial sponsorship after achieving major international success. She added that she did not receive the consistent financial backing from SSA which she believed elite athletes needed, describing her relationship with them as “absent”.

WHAT HAS GAYTON SAID?

In a statement issued by the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture wished Tatjana Smith well on her future career with the Netherlands.

In it, the minister also stated that the gold medallist’s “personal choice” did not warrant an “attack” on him.

It read: “It is regrettable that some people have used a deeply personal decision by one of South Africa’s most loved athletes to attack the Minister. Tatjana’s choice belongs to her, and it should not be turned into a political weapon”.

The department claimed that it had both honoured Tatjana at the South African Sport Awards and gifted her prize money. It went on to elaborate on its roles and responsibilities, which were distinct from those of sporting federations like SSA. 

“The Department does not run federations, and it cannot take on all of their costs. That includes the significant cost of competing internationally. The people who lead federations are responsible for running their affairs sustainably and for attracting the partners and sponsors who can pay for these costs”.

It continued: “The Department is aware of the problems at Swimming South Africa, including concerns athletes have raised. These problems are being dealt with through a reform”