Latest / Drive with John Perlman / Durban unveiled as host city for South Africa’s Olympic bids Mbali Hlophe, Primedia Sport

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Durban unveiled as host city for South Africa’s Olympic bids Mbali Hlophe, Primedia Sport · Drive with John Perlman

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Let's talk about South Africa bidding for the Olympic Games,
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: either in 2036 and 2040. Durban would be the main
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: host city. Other cities, though, could offer themselves to host
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: a number of sports. And I was saying that for
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: the Olympics, you need to have venues for a lot
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: of different sports. At LA, LA 28, as the Games
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: in California next year is known, there will be 36 sports.
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: And they range, obviously, track and field. Everybody knows about that. Swimming,
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: there's got to be an equestrian area, and you can't
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: just have a field with horses running around and going
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: over jumps. There's got to be seating and something that's
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: a little bit permanent. There's boxing, there's baseball, there is badminton,
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: and I'm still on the A's. There's a lot of
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: stuff that goes on at an Olympics, including skateboarding, by
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: the way. That's in LA at least. But let's find
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: out what was actually said at the announcement. Who made
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: the announcement and what are they saying would be the
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: benefits to the country of doing this? Mbali Khlope is
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: EWN sports reporter and he was there. Mbali, very good
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: afternoon to you. First of all, the motivation for Durban,
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: what was that?
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: Good afternoon, Dada John, and good afternoon to your listeners. Well, Durban,
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: as we know, has everything that you can think of.
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: It's got a couple of facilities, it's got hotels, it's
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: got a couple of stadiums, and it is... you know,
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: the city were willing to put the money into the
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: bid also. So we are talking 65% off, you know,
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: the proposed Olympics being held in Derbs. So it is
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: the preferred primary bid city. Other cities, depending on Sasko,
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: if they do decide to give Joburg, let's say football,
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: they can give Joburg football. If they do decide to
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: give Cape Town Athletics, they can give Cape Town Athletics football.
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: But we are looking at turning Moses Mapida into an
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: athletics track. Remember, we've had cricket being played there. We've
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: had rugby. And they're thinking maybe around the stadium, because
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: it's a big stadium, they can put an athletics track.
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: And if they want to, they can keep it. If
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: they don't want to, they can take it out. But
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: I just think that they should just keep it if
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: it does happen.
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  Speaker 1: They're saying that there is enough room around the perimeter
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: for an athletics track that wouldn't require having to move
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: any seats or remove any seating. I mean, presumably someone's
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: been out there with a tape measure.
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: Indeed, Dr.
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: John.
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: Obviously, there was an evaluation bid committee which looked at
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: all the cities and the requirements, and Derbs seems to
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: have outshined most of the cities. Doburg, like I said,
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: and Cape Town were one of the cities that were
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: considered out. But with everything that is being said, they
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: said Durban has most of the things, including the roads,
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: you know, the airport and for surfing, things like surfing,
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: which is an Olympic sport. It's much easier for them
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: to host in Durban.
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: So what happens next? I mean, you say the city
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: of Durban is willing to put up the money. Of course,
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: the city of Durban very likely is about to get
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: a new administration in a week's time. So this all
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: might be a little bit premature. But anyway, 2036 is
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: a long way off. But what do we have to
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: start doing now as a country? And is there any
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: indication of what that's going to cost us? I mean,
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: presumably the assessments were not done by the IOC, unless
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: they were. I assume it was a South African team
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: of experts who will then help to prepare a bid. But,
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: you know, these bid documents literally cost tens of millions
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: to put together. Who's putting up the money and what
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: needs to happen?
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: Obviously, a gentleman by the name of Robin Reddy was
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: the bid chairperson who was in charge of the evaluation process.
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: And it had to be taken to parliament by the
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: Minister of Sports, Gaten McKenzie, who was given the green light,
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: the go-ahead to say, you can bid, but the guarantees
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: only come in at a later stage. So the money
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: is not given now because there are processes, there are
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: stages that need to be passed before 2028. And only
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: in 2028 when there are guarantees, when the government is
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: happy with, you know, what they are seeing. Can they say, no, guys...
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: Go ahead. And then the IOC needs to then decide
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: if we have the means or the capability to host
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: the Olympics in 2036 or 2040. Well, the likes of
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: Germany have put in for 2036, 2040, 2044. So Germany
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: may come in last, but I think it's a chance
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: for Africa. And the minister has said not long ago
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: that he wants to bid for everything, having lost the
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: so-called F1 bid. But he still has hope that it
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: will come. So for the Olympics for now, money is
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: not involved, but they are talking. Yeah.
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: Okay. So up against us, India, Qatar, South Korea, Germany, Hungary,
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: and Turkey. And of course, I suppose a possibility Hungary
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: and Turkey or Germany and Hungary would share a border
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: might consider doing something jointly, although that's me being Purely speculative.
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: October 31 was the deadline to formally declare the interest,
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: so we've done that. November 2026, candidate nations must make
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: virtual presentations. March 2027, the IOC Executive Board will approve
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: a shortlist of candidates to enter the strategic dialogue phase.
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: And, yeah.
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: My sense is the IOC certainly likes to keep everybody
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: interested for as long as possible. So I doubt, uh,
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: we get thrown out at that point, but by mid 2029, uh,
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: the final host city election will take place. I'm completely
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: against this. Um, I don't know if you heard my,
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: my reasons, I'm going to be the grumpy guy in
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: the corner. Um, but yeah, I just think if we're
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: going to spend money on sport, we can spend money
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: on other things. I think the, uh, The claims that
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: get made about the future economic benefits, the money that
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: you get, et cetera, et cetera, I think are vastly
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: exaggerated by people who have vested interest in getting us
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: all excited. But like you shop and someone says, John,
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: you look fabulous in that purple and green skin-tight catsuit,
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: and I'll give it to you at a special knockdown
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: price of 5,000 rand. But, you know, my friends, if
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: they shop with me, will say, No, I think, you know,
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: maybe get some black jeans. What are your views, though?
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: I mean, I'm a big downer on this. Well, Dr.
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: John, as much as I'd love to have us host
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: another big event, but at this point in time, looking
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: at the country and the economy, I don't think we
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: are at a point where we can afford to put
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: a bid on, especially for such a major event. Maybe
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: for a small-scale event, in 2022, we're supposed to host the,
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: what's this, the Commonwealth Games, last minute government decided to
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: pull the plug. Let's look at that. It's something that
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: you spoke about that in 2022 we failed and then
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: they gave reasoning that Commonwealth actually was watered down also
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: when Scotland were, you know. I think maybe if we're
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: in a better position governance-wise, finance-wise as a country, I
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: think I'd say go ahead. But one thing I like
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: about big events is that the legacy it leaves behind.
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: We've hosted a whole lot of, you know, sporting tournaments
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: and they're great legacies. And the beauty of this, we
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: don't really have to build. We just need to refurbish.
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: So the money that they are throwing around, the 500 billion,
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: may even be less. So I think they are looking
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: at it from a huge number. I think it may
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: even be, let's say, looking at 100 billion instead of
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: 500 billion. But do we have that kind of money?
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: At this point in time, can we afford to be bidding?
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: Okay, well, we've got differing views on this on 702 Drive.
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: Let's find out now what's happening in the latest news.
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: Thanks to Mbali Khlope. You can check out his various
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: reports on EWN.co.za.