Thousands of runners training for the 100th Comrades Marathon now have a government guarantee behind them. Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie has pledged full government backing to ensure the historic race takes place on 13 June 2027, regardless of an ongoing administrative dispute between athletics federations.
The assurance carries real weight for participants and the communities who depend on the event. Entries are already open. Runners are committing resources to accommodation, travel and months of preparation. For the towns along the route from Pietermaritzburg to Durban, the race anchors their identity and calendar. For families who gather at the finish line, it is an annual tradition spanning generations.
McKenzie made his position clear in a statement released Friday. “The 100th running of the Comrades Marathon must go ahead, and it will go ahead. Enter the race. Book your accommodation. Tell your family to come and stand on that road. This race has survived a world war and a pandemic. It is not going to be stopped by a disagreement between committees,” he said.
The 2027 edition will be the 100th running overall and the 50th time the race follows the traditional down route to Durban, finishing at the Kings Park precinct. The Comrades Marathon was first held in 1921 and has continued every year except during the war years and the two years disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
At the heart of McKenzie’s commitment is a principle about who the race belongs to. “This race does not belong to a federation and does not belong to an association. It belongs to the people who run it, to the families who wait at the finish, and to the towns along that route who have built a hundred years of their identity around one Sunday in June. Nobody has the right to take that away from them, and this government will not allow anybody to try,” he said.
The government has committed concrete operational support. McKenzie directed the Department to engage KwaZulu-Natal provincial government, eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality and Msunduzi Local Municipality to ensure necessary arrangements are in place well before June 2027. State functions including event categorisation, safety certification under the Safety at Sports and Recreational Events Act, municipal coordination, traffic management, policing and emergency services are not dependent on the federation dispute and will proceed as planned. The Department will also work with organisers to make the centenary race the largest and best-supported Comrades Marathon in its history.
A critical protection for runners emerged from McKenzie’s intervention. He has called on Athletics South Africa (ASA) and KwaZulu-Natal Athletics (KZNA) to guarantee that no athlete, club or technical official will face sanctions for entering, participating in or officiating at the 100th Comrades Marathon. This addresses a real fear among participants caught in an administrative conflict they did not create.
“I will not have ordinary runners used as hostages in a fight they did not start. These are people who get up at four in the morning to train. They are not parties to this, and anybody who thinks of punishing them for entering a race will answer to me and to the public,” McKenzie said.
The dispute itself centres on affiliation structures. At its Annual General Meeting in November 2025, Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) members voted to withdraw their Special Member status with KZNA and affiliate directly with the national federation. ASA declined the request and directed the Association back to the provincial structure. When the matter was put to CMA members again at a Special General Meeting on 1 August 2026, more than 1,000 members voted. A total of 694 voted against re-affiliation with KZNA, while 338 voted in favour.
McKenzie’s statement came after an online meeting with representatives of the CMA, ASA, KZNA, KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Sport, Arts and Culture Mntomuhle Khawula, and the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC). More information is available at https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/minister-mckenzie-assures-runners-100th-comrades-marathon-will-go-ahead.
The Minister described the dispute as a symptom of deeper governance problems in South African athletics. “This is a wake-up call to Athletics South Africa, to every federation in this country, and to us in government too. Administrative dysfunction comes at a price. For years we have treated bad administration as an irritation, something we complain about and then live with. It is not. It costs you your biggest asset. When the organisers of the world’s oldest ultramarathon decide they are better off outside your structures than inside them, it is time to do deep introspection,” McKenzie said.
The Department has engaged World Athletics at senior level in recent months and intends to work with the global sports custodian, SASCOC and the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government to address the underlying governance challenges. McKenzie emphasised that solutions will be pursued within World Athletics’ framework, not around it. The open question now is whether ASA and KZNA will move quickly enough to restore the trust of the people who run, organise and cheer on the race before June 2027 arrives.