South Africa intends to bid to host the 2036 or 2040 Olympics

South Africa’s presidential minister announced Thursday that her country “intends” to apply to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2036 or 2040, without specifying the potential host city.
Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavhinti explained that South Africa, the first country on the continent to host the FIFA World Cup in 2010, will enter into “an ongoing dialogue with the International Olympic Committee, which is now headed by Zimbabwean Kirsty Coventry.”
She explained in a press conference on Thursday that this is a “preliminary and exploratory commitment.”
Cape Town had submitted a bid to host the 2004 Olympic Games, which were eventually awarded to Athens following a vote in 1997.
The minister said, “The government is confident of South Africa’s readiness and ability to host the Olympic Games, given its current infrastructure, and because the investments needed to improve it are not large.”
Former Olympic Committee President German Thomas Bach said during a visit to the country in October 2024 that South Africa has “the stability, infrastructure and vision necessary to host the Olympic Games.”
It is noteworthy that the Senegalese capital, Dakar, will next year become the first African city to host the Youth Olympic Games from October 31 to November 14, 2026.
The next Summer Olympics will be held in 2028 in Los Angeles, while the next in 2032 will be awarded to Brisbane, Australia.
Amid great momentum on the sporting scene, South Africa has submitted a request to host a Formula One Grand Prix race at the historic Kyalami Circuit, near Johannesburg, starting in 2027.
South Africa, the continent’s largest economy, is the main host of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in 2027.