Africa Bid for Olympics!! Bidding for the Olympics could be back on the table, if recent statements by President Jacob Zuma signal a policy shift by SA government. When quizzed by reporters on his thoughts on SA bidding for the Olympics in the next decade at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo, Zuma said: “If we are given an opportunity in the near future, we’ll certainly welcome that,” reported Sapa. "I think South Africa will be very happy to host the Olympics. We have, I think, sufficient facilities to do so." Despite initially showing interest, in 2011 Cabinet took a decision not to bid for the 2020 Olympic Games, citing broader economic strategies as the reason. But last year, it came to light that SA was once again eyeing a bid for the Olympics in the wake of the Games in London. CEO of the SA Olympic Committee and Sports Confederation (SASCOC), Tubby Reddy, said they had already commissioned a feasibility study on a 2024 Olympic bid. Michael Tatalias, CEO of SATSA, says an Olympic bid is a “phenomenal” opportunity for SA. “From a tourism marketing perspective, there are all sorts of positive spin offs just from bidding. Just the fact that we are throwing our hats in the ring publically will give us incredible exposure and get some win back from 2010 as we will remind the world that we have already hosted a very successful World Cup.” He adds that investments already made for the 2010 World Cup can be leveraged to give us the edge over competitors. “One of the most important elements of a major sporting event is ICT (Information and Telecommunications Technology). The money we’ve already invested into infrastructure for the World Cup will need to be replaced in 2024/2025, so bidding for the 2024 Olympics could allow us to benefit twice from the same investment with only a few minor tweaks,” says Tatalias. Speaking on the topic of host cities, Tatalias says there is only really one option – Durban. “During the World Cup we saw how fans reacted to what Durban offered and they liked the whole beachfront and fanfest experience.” He adds that its central location, connectivity and climate position it as the best option in SA, particularly considering the Olympics will take place in the South African winter. From a city development perspective, Tatalias says there is an opportunity to make Durban the greenest Olympic city, and the greenest harbour city in the world. “We can use the incentive of bidding for 2024 to gain international green funding to make some of the changes that will need to happen in the coming years.” He says that climate change will force government to invest more into the east coast of SA where more rainfall is predicted, and therefore greater opportunity to grow food and sustain populations. “The people who care about the Olympics are the people who care about greening and converting a city, so there are big opportunities to be found in this area,” he says. Bidding for the 2024 Olympics will begin in 2015 and the IOC will decide the winner in 2017.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:39:26 +0000