The coastal city of Durban is South Africa's preferred main candidate to host the Summer Olympic Games and Paralympic Games in either 2036 or 2040, which would be the first-ever Olympics held in Africa.
The South African Olympic Committee's acting president, Lwandile Simelane, unveiled the choice today, saying that Durban will be the main candidate city, but that the bid will probably involve some events taking place in other locations.
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Aside from subtropical Durban, the two largest cities in South Africa – Johannesburg and Cape Town – were also considered as the main bidding locations.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is expected to select its host in mid-2029.
The other countries to have confirmed their bids for 2036 are Germany, Hungary, Turkiye, Qatar, India, and South Korea. The IOC has set a deadline for formally declaring interest on October 31.
After the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, USA, the 2032 event heads to Brisbane, on Australia's east coast.
In terms of Durban's experience of hosting major sporting events, the city was originally allocated hosting rights for the Commonwealth Games in 2022, before being stripped of the rights for failing to provide a range of compulsory guarantees – England's Birmingham staged the event instead.
It did, however, put on a number of games from soccer's FIFA World Cup in 2010, and the Moses Mabhida Stadium built for that tournament event would be the centrepiece if the Olympics take place there.
In terms of next steps, representatives from the aforementioned seven countries are now in preliminary discussions with the IOC.
The next phase involves the drawing up of a shortlist next March, with countries on the shortlist then progressing to a more intensive strategic dialogue phase (brought in under the IOC's current president, Kirsty Coventry).
A preferred host or hosts – it is likely that more than one option will be chosen as a preferred host – will be named in 2028, while final confirmation of the IOC's decision is expected the following year.
Out of the seven countries listed, only South Korea (Seoul) and Germany (Berlin and Munich) have staged the summer games.
Cape Town was the last South African city to bid for Olympic Games hosting rights, putting its name forward for the 2004 edition – that event was eventually awarded to Athens, Greece, through a vote in 1997.
