State interference lost city the Games

THE GOVERNMENT has refused to acknowledge that its insistence on “running the show” was the reason Durban lost the right to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Instead, Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula insists the government only ever acted in the nation’s best interests.

The government would not be “bullied” into “breaking the bank” to secure the event for Durban, he said at a press conference this week.

But in a confidential letter written last year, an SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) official said he feared Durban would lose the Games because of government’s insistence on running the show which forced Sascoc into an “academic” role.

The official wrote the letter before outstanding submissions on the logistical and financial guarantees and composition of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) were made to the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF). This was in response to a November 30 deadline set by the CGF for South Africa to meet basic requirements.

LOCS, made up of people with specialist knowledge, always run international sporting events, as was the case during the Fifa 2010 World Cup.

The letter said: “The submission document is seriously government biased. In the case of the LOC, government and other parties dominate the committee as opposed to CGF prescripts. A further look at Commonwealth Games governance structures shows national, provincial and local government officials are charged with the overall vision and delivery of the Games. I’m convinced if this submission is made to the CGF...WE run the risk of losing the hosting rights altogether.”

At the conference, Mbalula would not give details on how much was spent on Durban’s bid.

“Any loss of money is regrettable. Don’t take it that R118 million lost means nothing, it means a lot,” Mbalula said.

What the minister did not reveal was that the R118m was in respect of Sascoc’s expenses, according to the sporting body’s annual financial statement, as at March 31, 2016.

Included were meeting expenses, local and overseas travel, R40m paid to accounting firm Ernst & Young and other costs.

The R118m was also only in respect of Sascoc expenses from April 1, 2014 to March 31, 2015 (R40 032 804m) and April 1 2015 to March 31, 2016 (R78 586 974m).

It did not include money Sascoc spent in the last financial year (April 1, 2016 to March 2017) nor government expenditure since 2014.

Mbalula said once the cabinet approved Durban bidding for the Games, his department was given the task of making it happen.

Included in its responsibilities was canvassing international support which meant many overseas trips for Mbalula, his deputies and other delegation members.

Initially, Edmonton was in the running, but the Canadian city dropped out in February 2015.

Even though it became a onehorse race, Mbalula stated that it was not a shoo-in.

“It was not fait accompli, we still had to prepare for the visit of high-powered CGF delegations, event specialists and inspection teams from various member nations.”

Mbalula also said that the bid had to be confirmed during the Commonwealth’s General Assembly Auckland meeting in September 2015. The occasion inevitably carried costs.

Added to the costs was the hosting of CGF president Louise Martin, earlier this month. Security had to be provided for her and her delegation. Martin was to make a last-ditch effort to meet President Jacob Zuma but he did not make himself available.

The CGF was approached for comment but did not respond.