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Sascoc expresses interest in hosting the 2036 Olympics, but can South Africa afford it?

Sascoc expresses interest in hosting the 2036 Olympics, but can South Africa afford it?
Craig Ray
By Craig Ray
15 Dec 2024
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The South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) has formally declared interest in hosting the 2036 Olympic Games. But does South Africa need it?

South Africa will host the 2027 men’s Cricket World Cup while a bid to host Rugby World Cup 2023 was snatched away by France despite SA being named as the preferred bidder by an independent assessment panel.

This country has never been afraid to get in the arena and make audacious bids to stage global sporting events. Some failed, and some, such as a bid to stage the 2010 Fifa World Cup, succeeded. The reasons it was successful are still a matter of scrutiny after bribery allegations. 

The tournament itself was a success, as was Rugby World Cup 1995, Afcon 1996 and the 2003 Cricket World Cup hosted by South Africa. 

The one, obvious missing event from that list is the Olympic Games. Africa, never mind South Africa, has not hosted the modern Olympics once since its inception in 1896 

London and Paris have hosted the Games three times each, Los Angeles is set for its third staging in 2028 while Tokyo has held the Games twice. 

Cape Town’s bid for the 2004 Games, still the only bid that made the final shortlist from Africa, ultimately lost out to Athens. In retrospect, the Greeks might have rued that decision as the Athens Games ran massively over budget and was a factor in the Greek financial crisis of the noughties. 

Running over budget, and costing cities and countries billions of dollars that can take up to two generations to pay off – in the case of 1976 hosts Montreal  – are a familiar Olympic outcome. 

The number of cities willing to bid for an Olympics is dwindling as taxpayers, who end up footing the bill, resist. Brisbane, which will host the 2032 Games, were the only bidding city, underlining the loss of appetite for being a host city. 

“As the costs of hosting have skyrocketed, revenues cover only a fraction of expenditures,” a study by the Council on Foreign Relations identified. 

“Beijing’s 2008 Summer Olympics generated $3.6-billion in revenue, compared with over $40-billion in costs, and Tokyo’s delayed Summer Games generated $5.8-billion in revenue and $13-billion in costs.

“What’s more, much of the revenue doesn’t go to the host — the International Olympic Committee (IOC) keeps more than half of all television revenue, typically the largest chunk of money generated by the Games.

“Impact studies carried out or commissioned by host governments before the Games often argue that hosting the event will provide a major economic lift by creating jobs, drawing tourists and boosting overall economic output. However, research carried out after the Games shows that these purported benefits are dubious.”

Selling the dream


And yet the IOC entices bids every Olympic cycle as it sells the dreams of legacy, prestige and financial gain.  

The IOC sales team has not disappointed as delegates from Sascoc and national government returned from a meeting at Olympic headquarters in Lausanne in late November, gushing about prospects to host the 2036 Games in South Africa (no host city was named).

“The IOC’s revised approach to hosting Olympic events prioritises collaboration with host countries, regions and cities to design Games that integrate with local priorities and infrastructure,” a Sascoc media release stated.

“This shift aligns well with South Africa’s strategic vision for inclusive development and sustainability. Inclusive development and sustainability” are noble and necessary ideals for South Africa. But spending billions on hosting an Olympic Games to meet those rather broad objectives will require a lot more scrutiny.

The IOC’s sales pitch must have been impressive.

“South Africa’s interest in hosting the 2036 Olympics and Paralympics represents a bold step forward in our nation’s sporting journey,” Sascoc president Barry Hendricks enthused. 

“Hosting the Games would showcase South Africa as a global destination for excellence, and create a lasting legacy promoting sports development, infrastructure growth and national unity.”

The magic words of “legacy” and “infrastructure” are there, and while the hosting of other sporting events has been hugely successful, can we honestly pinpoint what exact legacy the Fifa 2010 World Cup left for the country? 

There were upgrades to some roads and airports, new stadiums, most of which stand empty and only used sporadically, while the $100-million Fifa legacy trust to develop soccer has mysteriously vanished.

Cost


The University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School study revealed that megaprojects on the scale of an Olympic Games almost always fail. That’s because they are “often commissioned for the wrong reason and, due to their size and complexity, are pre-determined to systemic failure”.

That’s not a promising start. For countries such as Saudi Arabia, which has just been awarded the right to host the 2034 Fifa World Cup, budgets are not really an issue.

Like Qatar and other areas in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia is on a drive to modernise cities and infrastructure, and to use sport to improve its image as an oppressive regime.

With an almost endless cash pipeline through its massive oil reserves, a mega global sporting event is just another aspect of a much bigger urban development programme.

For a country such as South Africa, spending anywhere between $10-billion and $15-billion to stage 17 days of sporting competition is wildly extravagant.

That’s not to say it can’t, or shouldn’t be considered, but it needs careful planning, transparent oversight and clear strategic goals.

Earlier this year, a group called Our Future Cities released a study that Cape Town could host the 2040 Olympics at a vastly reduced cost because of existing infrastructure being in place.

While their study considered a 2040 bid, a bid for 2036 might even be more viable as venues such as the DHL Stadium in Green Point will be four years younger.

The report claims that 84% of the needed venues for an Olympic Games already “exist, or could be temporary” in Cape Town.

The report stated:

  • 26-30 venues are existing out of the 37-42 required for a Games, based on the three sports programme scenarios. Of these, 19-21 require only temporary works to meet Games requirements, and 7-9 of these venues would require significant upgrades or permanent works.

  • Six venues could be delivered as temporary venues, in keeping with sustainable event hosting practices, for sports typically delivered as temporary facilities.

  • 5-6 additional or new venues (primarily indoor arenas) would be required to meet Games requirements.


This study, while not the final say on the matter, is a decent starting point to even begin an assessment of whether hosting an Olympics in South Africa is viable.

The current Western Cape government, run by the Democratic Alliance (DA), has made no statements reflecting an intention to host the Olympics.

In fact, under the DA, which is focused on delivering better transport and housing infrastructure to the city, it’s unlikely that an Olympics is part of the overall strategic plan.

The question for the rest of South Africa is the same. Do we need it? DM

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.


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