President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to attend a Formula One grand prix later this year as part of South Africa’s renewed push to bring the sport back to the country.
The visit forms part of the country’s ambition to host a F1 race in Africa for the first time since the end of apartheid. It would be the first F1 race to be held in South Africa since 1993, a grand prix won by Alain Prost in a Williams.
Sport, arts and culture minister Gayton McKenzie confirmed the development during a media briefing in Pretoria on Thursday. “His Excellency President Cyril Ramaphosa has agreed to join me at a Formula One grand prix later this year. This is a working visit, not a social one,” he said.
As a motorsport fan, McKenzie has campaigned for SA to be on the F1 calendar since his appointment as sport minister in July 2024.
Formula One has not staged a race in Africa for more than three decades. During that time the sport has expanded across the Middle East, Asia and the Americas, leaving Africa as the only continent without a race. McKenzie said F1 can’t be considered a world championship if it misses an entire continent.
“That is not acceptable and it is not sustainable. An entire generation of young African motorsport enthusiasts has never seen a Formula One race in their own backyard. We intend to change that.”
The president’s visit will allow us to observe, engage and strengthen our case. I will provide further details on the timing and the specific grand prix in due course, in coordination with the Presidency
— Gayton McKenzie, sport, arts and culture minister
The president’s participation signals that the initiative has backing at the highest level of government, he said.
“There are criteria that any country must meet to host a grand prix — commercial, logistical, infrastructural and safety requirements — and we are working methodically to meet each of them.
“The president’s visit will allow us to observe, engage and strengthen our case. I will provide further details on the timing and the specific grand prix in due course, in coordination with the Presidency.”
Several attempts to bring the grand prix back to the country have been thwarted due to the high cost of hosting the event. In July 2025 McKenzie expressed confidence that the race would take place in 2027, with potential sponsors ready to fund the event which reputedly costs around R2bn.
His comments at the time followed Kyalami being given the green light for upgrades by the FIA, the organisation that runs F1 racing. Kyalami owner Toby Venter revealed that the FIA had accepted final design proposals to upgrade the 4.5km circuit from grade 2 to grade 1 status, the international standard required to host F1 racing.
Earlier this year, however, McKenzie confirmed that South Africa would not host a grand prix in 2027 due to underestimating the financial and logistical requirements, and the government was instead focusing on a potential bid for 2028 or 2029.
TimesLIVE
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