South Africa has put forward Durban as its preferred candidate to host the Summer Olympics and Paralympics, which it is bidding to stage in 2036 or 2040. The International Olympic Committee will choose the 2036 host city in mid-2029.
The choice was announced on Thursday by Lwandile Simelane, acting president of the South African Sports Confederation, Olympic and Paralympic Committee. She said Durban would be the main candidate city, but the bid would likely be a multi-city effort with events held in other cities. Johannesburg and Cape Town were also considered as candidates.
Durban’s earlier Olympic ambitions and setbacks
Durban, a city of about 4 million on the subtropical Indian Ocean coast, was touted as a possible Olympic host more than a decade ago, after South Africa staged the 2010 football World Cup. However, an official bid did not materialise, largely due to cost concerns.
The city was also stripped of hosting the 2022 Commonwealth Games because it could not provide the financial or other guarantees required. South Africa, which has Africa’s biggest economy, previously failed with a bid to stage the 2004 Games in Cape Town.
Moses Mabhida Stadium anchors Durban’s bid plans
Officials said on Thursday they could not yet estimate what the Olympics would cost South Africa if the bid succeeded. Durban’s bid would centre on the 56,000-seat Moses Mabhida Stadium, which was built for the 2010 World Cup.
South Africa is one of seven countries bidding for the 2036 Games, alongside India, Qatar, South Korea, Germany, Hungary and Turkiye. The IOC set October 31 as the deadline for national Olympic committees to declare their interest, and candidates can make virtual presentations next month. The IOC has said its board will approve a shortlist in March.
Youth Olympics in Dakar mark a first for Africa
The Youth Olympics open this weekend in Dakar, Senegal, the first Olympic sports event to be held in Africa. If South Africa wins the bid, it would be the first African host of the Summer Games since the modern Olympics was created in 1896.
