Rehana Rossouw=20
WHEN Chris Ball was Barclays Bank managing director=20 in the 198Os, he became the victim of a bizarre=20 witch-hunt where National Party commie-spotters=20 pronounced they had found a bunny resembling an=20 African National Congress symbol in the bank’s tree=20
Coupled with numerous accounts the bank attracted=20 from anti-apartheid groups, “evidence” surely=20 mounted that Ball was an agent of the forces intent=20 on establishing a communist state in South Africa.=20 The furore caused him to leave for London in 1989,=20 and South Africa was one banker poorer.=20
Today, a year after his return from self-imposed=20 exile, Ball, now chief executive of the R979- million Cape Town Olympic Bid Company, bemusedly=20 watches as critics fire salvo upon salvo over=20 decisions he says he has not yet made, and might=20 not make at all.=20
Ironically, it is the people who supported him=20 against the Nationalist government’s witch-hunt who=20 are now a thorn in his side: ANC members in the=20 cabinet who are believed not to be eager to endorse=20 the bid.=20
Ball said in an interview this week that while he=20 was not losing any sleep waiting for the cabinet’s=20 decision, he was concerned that the political=20 bunfight over the local government elections in the=20 Western Cape might have an impact on the vote.=20
“An impact study of the Games has shown that three=20 quarters of its economic impact will be felt=20 outside the Western Cape, so this shouldn’t be too=20 much of a barrier,” he said.=20
Cape Town’s “windmill tilters”, who are waging a=20 newspaper letter-writing campaign against the bid,=20 have him more concerned. The bid company stands=20 accused of not consulting enough with citizens,=20 neglecting environmental concerns and wasting=20 ratepayers’ money.=20
“South Africa seems to have developed a national=20 madness and if I was not philosophical and patient,=20 it would probably grip me too,” Ball said.=20
“The other day someone brought a man into the=20 office because I needed to consult with the=20 coloured community. After we spoke he asked what he=20 could do to help the bid. I still don’t know who=20 exactly he was representing, but there’s a man I=20 can work with.”=20
While there’s no doubt he’s back to stay in South=20 Africa beyond 2004, he does note wryly that=20 Capetonians are “not like people in Europe and=20 America”. The key difference? They don’t understand=20 finance, which has been the main point of attack by=20
The bottom line — if you accept Ball’s figures –=20 is that the preliminary operating budget=20 conservatively anticipates R4,2 billion in revenue.=20 Operating expenditure is set at R2,9 billion, thus=20 forecasting a gross surplus of R1,3 billion, which=20 will set aside for sports development, a housing=20 reserve and a contingency fund.=20
The bid’s impact study estimates that South=20 Africa’s gross domestic product will gain R17- billion if it hosts the Games. “If the money is not=20 spent in Cape Town but is used, for instance, to=20 build roads in the Ciskei, it will have no impact=20 at all,” Ball said.=20
The bid company has not touched a cent of=20 ratepayers’ money and did not foresee doing so; and=20 there was absolutely no reason to “go beserk” as=20 Barcelona’s bid did and leave ratepayers carrying=20 the can of maintaining gorgeous edifices after the=20 Games, Ball said.=20
“At the stage we are at, it is very difficult to=20 conceptualise the issues. We can’t, for instance,=20 decide what the environmental issues are of=20 building an Olympic stadium at Wingfield; we=20 haven’t yet decided where we’re going to put it,”=20 Ball argued.=20
Ball said that when the bid proposal was finalised,=20 a series of public meetings would be held. There=20 would be workshops with interest groups and NGOs=20 around particular issues and an “open house” at set=20 times at the bid company’s offices at the=20 Waterfront, where people would be free to come and=20 discuss the bid with its officials.=20
“Our task is to put forward a proposal on the basis=20 of which South Africa can bid for the Games. The=20 Cape Metropolitan Council, the provincial=20 government and national government will have to=20 decide whether to endorse it,” he said.=20
“It is not up to the bid company to call for a=20 referendum to test public viewpoints and the crux=20 of the matter in any case is that before the public=20 can decide it needs information and we are=20 committed to supplying them with it.”=20