Sports and Recreation Minister Fikile Mbalula said Friday that South Africa is still considering a bid for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games.
Although it was a leading candidate after it successfully hosted the 2010 soccer World Cup, the South African government said in May it was not considering a bid because it would divert too much money from state finances.
Mbalula told Reuters, “from the Ministry of Sports, we are quite interested. So we will go back to cabinet in a week’s time and re-present our case to fit in the information that was not there. In this instance, Durban has put an important bid to us, which is convincing”.
Reuters reports that at a meeting of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Durban several delegates said they would like to see the Games come to Africa for the first time.
Rogge told the delegates in Durban “South Africa proved during the World Cup that they are ready for a major event. As a nation they are ready to host the Olympic Games”.
Earlier, when it decided not to bid, the government said it wanted to use the money that would have gone into a campaign and a possible hosting, to bring services to the masses of poor.
