Madar (Pretoria) - South Africa on Thursday, October 29, 2026, named Durban as the main candidate city for its bid to host the 2036 or 2040 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games, which would be the first Olympics held in Africa, Al Jazeera English reported, citing The Associated Press.
The choice was announced by Lwandile Simelane, acting president of the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic and Paralympic Committee, who said the bid would likely be a "multi-city bid" with events held in other cities. Johannesburg and Cape Town had also been considered.
Durban, South Africa's third-biggest city with about 4 million people, lies on the Indian Ocean coast. The bid would centre on the 56,000-seat Moses Mabhida Stadium, built for the 2010 World Cup. Officials could not yet estimate the cost of hosting.
Durban was floated as an Olympic host more than a decade ago, after the 2010 World Cup, but no official bid followed, largely over cost concerns. The city also lost the right to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games after failing to provide the required financial and other guarantees.
According to the same source, seven countries are bidding for 2036: South Africa, India, Qatar, South Korea, Germany, Hungary and Turkiye. The IOC set October 31 as the deadline for national Olympic committees to declare interest. Candidates can make virtual presentations to the IOC next month, a shortlist is expected in March, and the 2036 host will be chosen in mid-2029.
No African country has hosted the Summer Games since the modern Olympics began in 1896, and Cape Town's bid for 2004 failed. The Youth Olympic Games open in Dakar this weekend, the first Olympic sports event held in Africa.
