{"id":55501,"date":"2026-04-09T10:25:43","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T10:25:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/?p=55501"},"modified":"2026-04-09T10:25:43","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T10:25:43","slug":"utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignmama-joy-fires-back-at-gayton-mckenzie-says-she-never-asked-for-r700k-world-cup-trip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/2026\/04\/09\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignmama-joy-fires-back-at-gayton-mckenzie-says-she-never-asked-for-r700k-world-cup-trip\/","title":{"rendered":"Mama Joy fires back at Gayton McKenzie, says she never asked for R700k World Cup trip"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"mvp-content-main\">&#13;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_190342\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-190342\" class=\"wp-image-190342 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Mama-Joy-fires-back-at-Gayton-McKenzie-says-she-never.jpg?resize=600%2C470&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"470\" srcset=\"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Mama-Joy-fires-back-at-Gayton-McKenzie-says-she-never.jpg 600w, https:\/\/fakazanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Mama-Joy-300x235.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-190342\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mama Joy replies Gayton McKenzie amid 700k claims<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The fallout between Mama Joy Chauke and Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie has taken another turn after the superfan publicly pushed back against claims surrounding her 2023 Rugby World Cup trip.<\/p>\n<p>Taking to X, Mama Joy denied ever requesting government sponsorship for her attendance in France, instead stating that her initial request had nothing to do with her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t ask Minister @GaytonMcK to take me to the World Cup, I asked for 50 fans he promised,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe wanted to take the influencers, unfortunately DSAC denied cos of budget. I also didn\u2019t know the money spent for RWC. I felt targeted by his answer, no respect for Papajoy,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n<p>Her post sparked mixed reactions from X users, with some questioning the fairness of government support and others defending her.<\/p>\n<p>One user wrote, \u201cBut nawe you\u2019re also an influencer. Don\u2019t you think it\u2019s time other batch of fans also get the preferential treatment from the association? Ayisine idedelane mama kunini!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another added, \u201cYou are correct, most people are attacking out of jealousy not principles. Influencers are always in these events and no one is asking how they got there because this is not about money but fight against Mamajoy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>However, some expressed concern about the alleged spending. \u201cSpending 700k on one person especially to go watch the World Cup is worrying. The money could go a long way in improving people\u2019s lives or use it for service delivery. All along we thought they are paying for themselves,\u201d one comment read.<\/p>\n<p>The exchange highlights growing tensions between the two, with conflicting accounts continuing to fuel public debate.<\/p>\n<p>While McKenzie maintains that official records justify his claims, Mama Joy insists she has been misrepresented in the narrative, arguing that her intentions were always about supporting fellow fans rather than securing personal benefit.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">I didn\u2019t Ask Minister \u2066<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GaytonMcK?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">@GaytonMcK<\/a>\u2069 to take me to the Worldcup,I asked for 50 fans he promised ,He wanted to take the influencers unfortunately DSAC denied cos of budget, I also didn\u2019t know the money spent for RWC,I felt targeted by his answer no respect for Papajoy, <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/6942M5cwcR\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/6942M5cwcR<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 MamaJoy Chauke (@JoyChauke5) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JoyChauke5\/status\/2042105358286557295?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">April 9, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><!-- CONTENT END 4 -->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n#Mama #Joy #fires #Gayton #McKenzie #asked #R700k #World #Cup #trip<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#13; Mama Joy replies Gayton McKenzie amid 700k claims The fallout between Mama Joy Chauke and Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":55502,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mzansi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55501"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55501\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55503,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55501\/revisions\/55503"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}