Durban named SA’s preferred city to host 2036 or 2040 Olympics

Durban has been named as the preferred host city in the South African Sports Confederation, Olympic and Paralympic Committee’s (Sascoc) expression of interest to host the 2036 or 2040 Olympic Games.

Sascoc acting president Lwandile Simelane pulled “Durban” out of the ceremonial envelope in an announcement made at Sascoc’s headquarters at Olympic House in Melrose, Johannesburg, on Thursday.

Durban beat Johannesburg and Cape Town to the status. Durban was stripped of hosting rights for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in March 2017 due to financial constraints, budget disagreements and missed deadlines.

South Africa joins India, Qatar, Germany, Hungary, Türkiye and South Korea as interested parties for the 2036 Games. The UK and Egypt are among interested nations for the 2040 Games.

Simelane said the announcement does not “confirm any formal status of it being the preferred city; it’s just the city with which we will be engaging and participating in the bid”.

She said the next steps are that South Africa “remains in continuous dialogue”, Sascoc communicates the preferred city to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and works “with the relevant stakeholders to develop the project for the next international engagements”.

“Those preparations must bring the hosting vision together with a workable venue plan, appropriate funding strategy and clear accounting of the benefits for communities.

“The IOC has confirmed no additional interested parties will be considered for the 2036 Olympics after October 31.”

A digital presentation will be made by the interested parties to the IOC in November.

Sascoc CEO Nozipho Jafta said as the world “looks ahead to Los Angeles in 2028 and Brisbane in 2032, we are exploring whether South Africa can welcome the Summer and Paralympic Games in 2036 or 2040”.

“Sascoc formally communicated South Africa’s intention to enter this dialogue. Our engagement has provided a framework within which to explore the country’s hosting ambitions and develop a potential Games project.

“In partnership with the department of sport, arts and culture, under the leadership of [minister] Gayton McKenzie, formal support was received from the cabinet to pursue the project.”

Strategic engagements with the affected cities will begin only if South Africa progresses to the targeted dialogue phases

—  Sascoc CEO Nozipho Jafta

Jafta said Sascoc has “followed the IOC timelines and guidelines in advancing our engagement through continuous dialogue, [which] allows interested parties and the IOC to examine the vision and feasibility of hosting”.

“The first deliverable of this phase is the announcement of the preferred host city, referred to as the interested party. It is worth noting that this is not yet the right moment to engage with the cities at a strategic level, as several steps must still unfold, including our presentation to the IOC at the end of November and the IOC’s own feasibility study.

“Strategic engagements with the affected cities will begin only if South Africa progresses to the targeted dialogue phases.

“Once the IOC engages us further, we will be in a position to consult the successful city further. This will allow us to clarify logistics and venue decisions and to explore the logistics of other cities hosting certain sporting codes under the IOC’s new multi-city hosting model.”

Simelane said an independent evaluation panel chaired by Ruben Reddy was formed to “inform the selection of the preferred city”. This month the panel met the cities, received their presentations and visited potential venues.

The cities were assessed against IOC guidelines.

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