A lack of commitment from the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture costs the Eastern Cape dearly as the only World Surf League event on the African continent is cancelled. Surfing in South Africa was dealt a gnarly blow this week when it was announced that the country’s premier surfing event would not be returning to its shores this year. The World Surf League (WSL) announced on Sunday that the Corona Cero Open J-Bay, at the iconic Supertubes in Jeffreys Bay, had been pulled from its 2026 Championship Tour schedule, citing a lack of financial support as the reason.
While there have been no clear indications about who is to blame for the event wiping out, some fingers have been pointed at SA’s provincial and national government structures for not throwing their weight behind the event. “The cancellation of the J-Bay Open is not only a disappointment for South Africa, but for Africa as a whole. Jeffreys Bay has always been one of the best stops along the WSL world tour, with the best waves and a very well-organised event year after year,” said Surfing Africa director Johnny Bakker.
Surfing in Jeffreys Bay can be traced back to the 1960s when surfers from across the world discovered what is arguably the planet’s best right-hand point break, Supertubes, where consistent, fast, barrelling waves peel to the surfer’s right and break along a rocky point that juts out into the ocean. The WSL put competitive surfing on the map in 1976 and over the past five decades has curated an annual Championship Tour at the best global surfing destinations, with top-ranked surfers competing for world ranking points. For many years, Jeffreys Bay, in the Kouga Municipality, has been a staple of the championship calendar.
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“It is with regret that we announce the WSL will not host an event in Jeffreys Bay in 2026. The absence of a confirmed funding commitment from the national Department of Sport, Arts and Culture has led to this decision,” said Kouga’s mayor, Hattingh Bornman. He said that despite his municipality’s ongoing support for the event, their annual budget of R2-million was not enough to secure the event, and a lack of commitment from the national Department of Sports, Arts and Culture was the final nail in the coffin.
“Over the last three or four years, there have been many discussions with provincial and national government, and while a lot of verbal commitments were made, these commitments were never put into action. “Therefore, the WSL has decided to withdraw the South African event.”
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