‘SA couldn’t fork out more than R2.6bn’
THE EXPECTATION that the government would have to provide more money than the cabinet had approved for the Commonwealth Games could not be sustained in the current economic environment, Sport and Recreation Minister Fikile Mbalula said yesterday.
He was speaking at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban a day after it was announced that Durban’s bid to host the 2022 Games had been withdrawn by the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF).
“The government has regrettably noted the statement issued by the Commonwealth Games Federation… We wish to state that while we disagree with the contents of the statement, we accept the decision of the CGF as the rights holder,” Mbalula said.
The minister said this was despite the effort and positive responses from the Games’ evaluation commission on the potential capacity of Durban.
“When the Games were awarded to South Africa, the country had not signed the host city agreement,” Mbalula noted.
“Clauses in the agreement were seriously going to compromise South Africa, and the government was not prepared to sign an open-ended guarantee that indicated that ‘government had to meet any potential shortfall in the budget of the organising committee arising from the preparations for and the hosting of the 2022 Commonwealth Games.”
He said the finance minister had signed a guarantee in June for an operational budget of R2.6 billion.
Mbalula said after having learnt lessons from hosting other mega-events, the government “had no appetite to issue an open-ended guarantee, including having to transfer a large portion of funds to a newly established private entity”. – ANA