The eThekwini municipality and the South African government cannot afford to spend R8 billion to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games, an event that will only benefit “monopoly capital”, the eThekwini ANC youth league says.
The young lions made the remarks during a press briefing in Durban this morning.
Thinta Cibane, the league’s regional secretary, said: “The capital injection into the economy required for these games will only benefit big monopoly capital. The youth league therefore rejects these games as nothing but a ploy to make business richer at the expense of small business.”
They estimated that hosting the games would cost the city and the country R8bn to organise.
“Although the youth league questions the sense of South Africa belonging to a club of once colonized countries that are now called the commonwealth (which have only have poverty common among them), the financial model of these games is, at best, concerning,” he said.
Cibane said hosting the games would not benefit the the public, as was the case with the 2010 Soccer World Cup.
In September last year, Durban was confirmed as the host of the 2022 games after the only other city in the running, Edmonton in Canada, withdrew from the race citing economy challenges.
However, there have been suggestions that the city would lose the hosting rights after failing to meet a series of deadlines. These include the appointment of a local organising committee.
The Mercury