HOSTING AMBITIONS: SA unveils Durban as candidate city in its bid to host the Olympic Games

Team South Africa have taken the first step in their bid to host the 2036 or 2040 Olympic and Paralympic Games by unveiling Durban as their preferred host city.

The South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) announced its intention on 29 October at Olympic House in Johannesburg, confirming that the government had backed the bid following Cabinet approval.

According to Sascoc CEO Nozipho Jafta, the process is still in its infancy with the national sporting body engaging in “continuous dialogue” with the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Future Host Commission, as it explores the feasibility of hosting the Games.

“These are exciting times for South African sport,” began Jafta. “As the world looks ahead to Los Angeles in 2028 and Brisbane in 2032, we are exploring whether South Africa can welcome Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2036 or 2040. 

“For our athletes, the opportunity to compete at home would carry extraordinary meaning. For the young people watching it could bring the dream of representing South Africa closer. And for our communities, our ambition must be to develop a games project whose benefits would endure long after the final event.” 

Identifying a preferred host city was one of the first steps in the process. Durban was selected after the province, Johannesburg and Cape Town expressed interest in May. Sascoc’s Acting President Lwandile Simelane said the preferred host city needed to be submitted to the IOC by 31 October. 

Currently, seven countries have expressed interest in hosting the 2036 Olympic Games. In November, the interested parties, including South Africa, will present their vision and demonstrate the progress of their project to the IOC. 

Feasibility reviews are scheduled to conclude in March 2027, with a final host selection expected in 2029. 

Durban and the lessons learned

A central consideration in South Africa’s proposal is affordability, with Sascoc aiming to use existing infrastructure, with Durban well placed with Moses Mabhida Stadium, Kings Park Stadium as well as the ocean all in proximity. 

The city is also envisaged as the location of the Olympic Village and the opening and closing ceremonies, according to Simelane.

However, the intention is still to use a multi-city approach, with Durban identified as having the potential to accommodate at least 65% of the sports and venues in a compact area. 

“The Olympics is a huge event demanding massive amounts of seating capacities historically,” said Ruben Reddy, the chairperson of the evaluation panel. “For us as the Evaluation Commission, we looked at all the sports that were presented in front of us and the venues that were proposed for each of them. 

“We found that Durban had the potential of providing the facilities and the sports in a compact environment for at least 65%. So there is still a gap and that is why the bid starts 10 years out, so that we can prepare for this.” 

Notably, in 2017, Durban had lost the right to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Despite being the only city to submit a bid, it missed key deadlines after being awarded the Games. These included the requirement to establish a local organising committee within 180 days.

According to a report by Daily Maverick, the South African government budgeted roughly R4-billion, while Commonwealth Sport required a much higher amount.  Ultimately, South Africa lost the hosting rights, with Birmingham stepping in as the replacement host.

When asked what measures would be put in place to prevent a repeat of that situation, Dr Sam Ramsamy, honorary member of Sascoc, said that question should rather be directed to Commonwealth Sport. 

“Since 2022, when South Africa rejected the guarantees that the Commonwealth Games Federation (now Commonwealth Sport) wanted, we were right,” he said.

“We’ve seen now that the Commonwealth Games has looked into the mirror and we’ve seen what had happened thereafter. Victoria had to cancel the games and then it went to Scotland, to Glasgow with only 10 sports. So, the issue should be addressed to the Commonwealth Games Federation more than to us.” 

Is South Africa ready?

In conjunction with questions around Durban’s readiness to host, concerns were also raised around Sascoc’s readiness to host. 

On 9 September, Sascoc’s President Barry Hendricks was suspended over alleged administrative shortfalls. That was the second time Hendricks had been suspended while at the helm of Sascoc. 

The first came before the 2020 elections, when he was acting president. Hendricks was accused of trying to block rivals from standing. He denied the allegations, was cleared and went on to win the election.

Daily Maverick asked Simelane how Sascoc expected the International Olympic Committee to perceive a bid led by a body that hasn’t yet put its own house in order, and what that said to the committee about South Africa’s readiness to host. 

According to Simelane, the matter does not reflect a blight on sport, but that the sector was working to address its shortcomings.

“It shows a presence of rules and regulation, a presence of policy and it shows work that we have to do to not fall foul of our own policies as a sporting sector,” she said. 

“I don’t think there’s a sporting organisation in the world that doesn’t go through governance ups and downs. But the question ought to be, how do you manage that when the ups and downs come? And we think that we are putting a strong and a tight plan together with the international federations to ensure that the federations come out stronger from that process.” 

The poor state of sports administration in the country remains a serious concern and hindrance to its sporting potential. Swimming South Africa President Alan Fritz and CEO Shaun Adriaanse were provisionally suspended by the Aquatics Integrity Unit in August 2026. 

Meanwhile, Athletics South Africa’s (ASA) president, James Moloi, was found guilty of misusing the federation’s credit card as a personal slush fund. Not only was Moloi’s removal strongly recommended, World Athletics stepped in and ordered ASA to execute a major structural overhaul or risk a ban. 

Asked about the wider governance turmoil, Simelane said suspensions were sometimes part of accountability processes.

“For [Sascoc] it wouldn’t be to curtail or interfere in any of those processes, but to enhance it, which is why we have put in task teams that will assist in the governance rebuild in a number of these federations,” she said. 

That was all Sascoc was willing to say on the matter, instead encouraging the focus to be on the positive step forward in South Africa’s intention to host the Olympic Games. DM