When the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) announced last week that Durban would be South Africa’s candidate for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games, it said Durban was the only city to have submitted a bid.
Sascoc CEO Tubby Reddy said Cape Town, Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth had been invited to submit bids, but “we have received no response”.
Now Cape Town says it was not given a formal deadline for the submission of its bid, and Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth deny ever being invited to bid, reports Times Live.
Cape Town’s communications director Pieter Cronje said the city had asked Sascoc to give it enough time to submit a bid, but had received no response. He said, “hosting the Olympics is a major project which requires guaranteed national funding, a needs assessment for the facilities and venues required, the operations capacity to host, and an assessment of legacy benefits.
“Previous communication from Sascoc asked an open-ended question about the City of Cape Town’s interest, but gave no process, format or deadline. That’s why the city is now requesting a formal opportunity to consider the possible submission of a bid”, he said.
Meanwhile Johannesburg’s deputy director of communications, Nthatise Modingoane, said the city was not aware of any invitation from Sascoc. He said, “Johannesburg has never made any pronouncements regarding the submission of a bid to host the 2020 Olympic Games”.
And Luncedo Njezula, Nelson Mandela Bay Metro spokesman, said he was not aware of an invitation to Port Elizabeth to submit a bid.
