DA to call on committee over unaffordable Commonwealth Games

28 November 2016

The Democratic Alliance will call on the Sports and Recreation Portfolio Committee to summons the Commonwealth Games committee to an urgent portfolio meeting to ascertain their financial status and whether they will proceed in bidding for the 2022 Commonwealth Games to be hosted in Durban.

This comes after revelations that SASCOC and co are lagging far behind in submitting financial and administrative deadlines in preparation for the Games.

A reply to a parliamentary question earlier this year revealed that "no financial impact assessment" had been conducted for hosting the 2022 Commonwealth Games. This effectively means that government does not know how much South Africa stands to lose or gain should we host.

The fact that we cannot secure the R6.3 billion in our second deadline shows not just an embarrassing prediction but also the current state of our country’s own ability to keep our finances under control.

Making a mature decision like hosting a global event such as the commonwealth requires an understanding of our fiscal commitments as well as the country’s ability to make a spectacular performance within the competition. It seems that both the eThekwini Municipality and SASCOC have committed South Africa to a dream that cannot deliver enough on the positive side to make this decision profitable in hope, funds, jobs or tourism.

With an economic outlook barely above junk status and municipalities across the local spectrum recording massive backlogs in infrastructure maintenance it does not make economic or sporting sense for South Africa to host this event

Issued by Darren Bergman, DA Deputy Shadow Minister of Sport, 28 November 2016