INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPERS Durban's Golden MileBY KAMCILLA PILLAY, CHRIS NDALISO and BARBARA COLE
Durban - Durban’s only rival to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games, the Canadian city of Edmonton, has dropped out, clearing the way for KwaZulu-Natal to host the event.
This decision means Durban and the government could save a sizeable chunk of the R98 million it had approved to bid for the Games.
City mayor James Nxumalo had not been aware of the development but said that he was happy to be waking up to “such great news”.
“This is wonderful for the city, very exciting for us all,” he said.
He said that the report outlining the budget for the bidding process had been presented to the city’ s executive committee yesterday.
“We will have to look at this budget again now. There will surely be a reduction in this budget since we are not competing against anyone else. We will have to re-evaluate it completely,” he said.
He explained that the bidding team was scheduled to go to London to submit its bid on March 2.
“Sascoc (SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee) had pledged to contribute R68 million while the city and the province would go 50-50 in terms of the remaining R30m. Of course, these figures will now have to be revisited and revised,” he said.
David Grevemberg, chief executive of the Commonwealth Games Federation, said in a statement issued on Wednesday they were disappointed by Edmonton’s decision to pull out of the bidding.
“We now look forward enthusiastically to working with the Durban 2022 Bid team and their partners through the evaluation process so, together as a Commonwealth sporting movement, we can realise the ambitions of delivering Africa’s first Commonwealth Games,” Grevemberg said.
“I’m confident there will be a great 2022 Commonwealth Games…
“We will continue to engage with CGAs, cities, communities and citizens to ensure the 2022 Commonwealth Games can create a world-class sporting stage for elite athletes of the Commonwealth as well as make a positive and lasting contribution to the legacy ambitions of a proud African Commonwealth city and its people.”
But in paving the way for Africa to host its first Commonwealth Games, Edmonton sounded the alarm about the financial cost of hosting the multi-sports event.
Officials cited the drop in world oil prices – a major Canadian export – as the key reason for the city pulling out of the event.
“We are of course very saddened by this decision, but we know that this is the right one for the future of our city, province and country,” Simon Farbrother, chief executive of the Edmonton bid committee, said.
Edmonton bid chairman, Reg Milley, said the decision to pull out of the bidding had not been easy.
“But we believe that at this time it would not be right to move forward with our bid when cuts are being made in our communities to programmes in education and health,” he said.
The cost of hosting the games erupted in a heated debate when it came before the eThekwini municipality’s executive committee yesterday.
Opposition councillors warned that the games could cost the country billions.
Deputy mayor Nomvuzo Shabalala rejected their concerns: “We won’t progress if we listen to doomsayers. Before 2010 they were saying Fifa should be looking for an alternative host country for the World Cup, but we disappointed them,” Shabalala said.
On Wednesday morning, DA caucus leader in the eThekwini Municipality, Zwakele Mncwango, said he would write to the mayor on Wednesday so that the city could revise its funding model accordingly.
He said the city also needed to work out how much it would cost to host the Games.
“We know how many codes there are and what they are, so we know what facilities they require. We should be able to give a ballpark figure of how much it is expected to cost,” he said.
He said that, as hosts, the host country accounted for 40 percent of the Games’ total cost, while the Commonwealth Games Federation contributed the other 60 percent.
Dumile Cele, the chief executive of the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said she was excited about the spin-offs for the city.
“I am happy that we are optimising the facilities and infrastructure that we already have. The games village, for instance, will be in Cornubia, an existing development.”
The chamber would now ask the municipality if it could host information-sharing sessions to keep businesses informed about the plan.
Operations Manager for Federated Hospitality Association of Southern Africa Charles Preece said that the City’s hosting of the Games would provide a “fantastic opportunity” to showcase the City.
“The hotels will all be full to the point that we would need to build more accommodation. The weather always plays its part. We have a beautiful city that will be placed on the world-stage. It’s wonderful,” he said.
He would not commit to a figure in terms of the income generated, but said that the benefits for the City would be “huge”.
“This is nothing like the World Cup (in 2010) where we only hosted a few matches; here, the focus will be entirely on us,” he said.
Peter Rose, chairman of uMhlanga Tourism, said he was excited.
“It’s too early to comment extensively on the matter but on the surface this is good news for Durban because it will bring opportunities for both business and the people of the city, and the province. The event will change the face of Durban,” Rose said.
The opening ceremony of the Games would be on July 18, particularly significant for South Africans as it is Madiba Day. – Additional reporting Reuters
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