Julian Drew
THE chairman of the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Evaluation Commission, Dr Thomas Bach, refused to sing the praises of Cape Town’s bid to host the 2004 Olympic Games before his departure on Tuesday. But the absence of an Ode to Joy from Bach should not set any alarm bells ringing.
Bach and the rest of his 15-strong commission have maintained their impartiality throughout their three-month long inspection tour of the 11 candidate cities. In so doing they have consistently declined invitations to compare the merits of the candidates or to highlight the positive and negative features of each city’s proposals.
What they did agree to reveal, in the interests of good public relations no doubt, were three strong arguments in favour of each city’s bid. In Athens these were the overwhelming support from the people of Greece, guarantees from both the incumbent government and the main opposition party, and an exciting cultural programme.
In Cape Town, Bach was impressed by the comprehensive support from all levels of government, the proficiency of the peninsula’s transportation plan, and the creative “Journey to Light the Sky” schools’ programme covering the bid and Olympism. Such compliments divulge little, however, about the overall ability of a city to cope with the rigours of staging the world’s single biggest event.
What should be encouraging for Cape Town though is that the commission did not pick up any major deficiencies in its technical proposals. Indeed it was Cape Town’s transport plan, perhaps the most crucial element in any strategy to host the Games, which solicited a definite thumbs up from the commission. The unequivocal support of the world’s most popular statesman also sent out the kind of signals the IOC is looking for. President Mandela, who was made honorary president of the bid last week, was particularly forthright in his communications to the commission but the same message was also delivered by other members of his Cabinet as well as the regional and local government.
“I and my colleagues are here to show just how determined we are to win this bid. My government has already recorded our absolute guarantee of the financial viability of these Games but today we wish to say to you, as directly as we can: give us these Games. We are ready for them. They will be good for us. They will be good for Africa. They will be good for the spirit of the Olympic movement,” declared the president at the ceremony welcoming the commission.
Equally important to the success of the bid is the level of public support. The voracious letter-writing campaigns of the mainly white, middle-class Mother Grundys from Cape Town’s affluent southern suburbs and the far less conspicuous activities of such groups as the Stop 2004 Olympic Bid Forum could give the appearance of a popular uprising against the bid to the casual observer.
To the commission’s credit it met representatives from the different organisations harbouring concerns about the bid and by all accounts gave them a fair hearing.
It also met the two-week-old pro-bid Cape Town Community Olympic Forum which claims widespread support from civic and other community organisations. Bach knows full well, however, that none of the cities could hope to have unanimous support and said he would have been suspicious if Cape Town had claimed 100% backing.
Two opinion polls conducted at the end of last year indicated 80% of the population was in favour of the bid and support seems to be growing as Olympic fever takes hold.
Unfortunately the Bid company would appear to be its own worst enemy when it comes to addressing some of its more outspoken adversaries. Every single aspect of the bid should be thoroughly scrutinised to ensure that nothing has escaped the attention of the Bid company, government or Development Bank who carried out a full audit of the Games proposals.
The Development Bank’s report in fact provides the most alluring argument of all for bringing the Games to Cape Town. Ninety thousand permanent jobs countrywide, a R30- billion boost to the national economy, and R8,3-billion in extra tax revenue which more than compensates for the government’s expected contribution to the Games of R3- billion, are just some of the benefits the bank predicts will accrue between September 1997 and 2006 should the IOC award the Olympics to Africa for the first time.
Such macro-economic projections are nebulous at best though and are generally based on the same recycled figures generated by a handful of multi-national accounting firms whose services are engaged on every Olympic bid and every Olympic Games.
The truth is that the infrastructure and facilities for the Games can, and often do, cost much more than the original estimates. It is also true, however, that there is nothing quite like the Olympic Games for rejuvenating a city and providing a focus for fast-track development. If properly managed the Games can leave a lasting legacy and put a city and country firmly on the world map.
Although it is impossible to put a price on the publicity generated by hosting the Games, it must also be remembered that a few unforeseen hiccups, like those experienced in Atlanta this year, can leave a city with a lasting image problem. But, as with the sporting competitions the Games showcase, the old maxim of, “If you don’t enter the race you won’t win the prize”, also applies to the contest to host the Olympic Games.
Eleven of the world’s leading cities are convinced that the opportunities offered by the Games far outweigh the pitfalls and each, like Cape Town, hopes to be in the race when the IOC’s selection college trims the number of entrants down to four or five in March.
While the technical report drawn up by Bach’s commission will provide some guidance to this process the obscure and secretive workings of the IOC don’t always allow for the obvious. That said, for political and sentimental reasons, Cape Town should go all the way to the wire at the election in Lausanne next September. Expect Athens, Rome, Stockholm and Buenos Aires to be there too.