Gerda Steyn says she is still waiting for the R90 000 owed to her for finishing third at the 2025 Soweto Marathon, with the event’s wider R1.2 million prize-money dispute continuing to affect elite athletes.
Steyn claimed her podium finish at the 30th African Bank Soweto Marathon on 29 November 2025, but says she has received neither payment nor meaningful communication from the organisers.
The South African distance-running star is a five-time Comrades Marathon and seven-time Two Oceans Marathon champion.
“It’s almost exactly a year later, and there has been absolutely no communication about payments, and no payments have been made. I don’t even know if this is still something we are talking about,” Steyn said.
Steyn had decided to compete in the Soweto Marathon despite being aware that the event was experiencing financial difficulties. Following the cancellation of the Cape Town Marathon because of bad weather on 19 October 2025, she wanted to support a marathon staged in South Africa.
“I wanted to support them. I knew the race was not in a good position, but I still wanted to support them,” she said.
However, the continued delay has left her frustrated.
“When I look back 12 months later and see how we have almost been forgotten, it is incredibly disappointing,” Steyn said.
She also warned that the failure to pay athletes was damaging to South Africa’s road-running community.
“We have such a community. When I look at the running community, we stand together. We support everything and everyone. We are proudly South African,” she said.
“This is not good for the community.”
Steyn is not the only leading athlete affected. Men’s winner Joseph Seutloali, who is her Hollywood Athletics Club team-mate, is reportedly still owed R250 000. The unpaid prize money is part of a shortfall estimated at approximately R1.2 million.
The dispute has prompted questions over the financial management and accountability of the event, known as the People’s Race.
African Bank, the title sponsor, has said it met its contractual obligations by transferring sponsorship fees and prize money to the Soweto Marathon NPO.
Organisers initially blamed the delay on outstanding doping-test results. The South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport reportedly confirmed, however, that the results had been completed and delivered by mid-January 2026.
Athletes have nevertheless remained unpaid.
In July, Central Gauteng Athletics said limited funding from the Gauteng Sports Confederation’s 2024 allocation would be used to make partial payments to those affected.
Sports, Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie later announced government intervention, including plans for outstanding prize money owed to the 2025 winners to be paid directly through government channels. His department also committed to overseeing the organisation of the 2026 race.
McKenzie has further said action would be taken over allegations of fraud and theft involving the NPO organisers through the South African Police Service and the National Prosecuting Authority. Any criminal allegations would still have to be investigated and established through the proper legal process.
Provincial athletics bodies have raised concerns about a direct political takeover and stressed the need to address the marathon’s underlying structural problems.
