Unpatriotic, misleading promises
THEREwe go again. South Africans are yet again being promised heaven and earth if they allow the elites to spend millions, perhaps billions of our tax money on yet another vanity project.
This time it is Durban seeking to host the Commonwealth Games in seven years’ time.
The champions of this adventure say it will boost Durban and South Africa’s coffers by a whopping R20 billion.
It would be exciting if we had not heard such stories before.
Every few years, some consultancy sells the local powers an idea that if they spent a few billions of our scarce cash, we shall turn South Africa from a Mad Max type of wasteland to a veritable land of milk and honey.
In essence, what the consultants do is not greatly different to the three-card shysters who by sleight of hand part a fool and his money.
It is shameful when elected public representatives have the morals of snake oil salesmen.
Back to Durban and the R20bn bonanza that awaits if we spend what the Durban city council officials openly say they have no idea what it would cost to bid, let alone host the games.
Commonwealth Games generally do not make a profit.
They are games open to countries whose only tie is that they were all once subjects of the Windsor family on that grey and cold island off Europe.
The last games that were hosted by New Delhi, India, were costed at $270 million (R3.1bn) but ended up $4.1bn – almost 16 times more than what was budgeted for.
Some of the countries are relatively poor and it would be a pipedream to imagine that the likes of Zimbabwe, which is on our doorstep, would have thousands at Beit Bridge dying to go to Durban to attend the Games.
Neither will we see international television stations doing everything in their power to win the exclusive rights to televise the games to billions around the world.
They are not the Olympics. Not to say that these automatically always make money.
It is common cause that it took Montreal
There are good reasons to host the Commonwealth Games, but SA must not pretend that making money is
one of them
30 years to pay off the debt incurred from its hosting of the 1976 Olympic Games.
As with our 2010 World Cup whose costs were nowhere close to those sold to the public, expenditure for the Athens 2004 Olympics increased exponentially, rising from $1.6bn to $16bn, a figure some economists blame for contributing to Greece’s current inability to pay off its national debt.
Patriotism is choosing with available evidence and to the best of one’s knowledge, what is best for one country.
South Africa has many social needs. Students at varsities like Wits have had to find innovative solutions to keep their impoverished friends from dropping out.
Millions live in shacks and children learn under trees.
If we have the cash, then it should be invested in making the lives of South Africans better and not in creating impressions to our neighbours.
If we insist on bringing the games here, then let it not be for the patently false reasons as have been advanced.
There are good reasons to host the games, but we must not pretend that making money is one of those reasons.
Cities and countries need to be marketed as business and tourism destinations. Games of this magnitude always need volunteers who, in turn, gain invaluable experience and contacts that will stand them in good stead in the future.
Hosting international sporting events usually has a positive impact on the civil pride of citizens of the hosting country or city.
These things, good as they are, do not always translate into cash in the pockets. More often, they burn the pockets of the tax- and ratepayers.
As for the argument that the games will benefit infrastructure development, regeneration of sporting facilities and expedite gentrification of neighbourhoods, I have never understood why local authorities must wait for a committee somewhere in the world for them to start cleaning up their own neighbourhoods.
Let us not fool ourselves. But if we insist on this, let us at least not try to fool everybody all the time.
Those who want to sell these expensive games to us will probably invoke the nationalism card and accuse those of us who are not excited of lacking patriotism. It is their call.
Patriotism must first never be a substitute for reading the clear evidence before us. The evidence before us is that these games are cash guzzlers that leave the public purse thin. Second, patriotism is not about slavishly taking the word of the political and business elites.
To promise this when you know deep down that the games will not make money, is plain cruel. It is unpatriotic.