The Gauteng government is keen to bid for the 2024 Olympics as part of its strategy to become a top sports destination.
The province's MEC for sport and recreation, Molebatsi Bopape, announced the intention at the Smart Cities & Sport Summit in Lausanne, Switzerland, this week.
She said a Gauteng bid would depend on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) changing the rule that requires that only cities - and not regions or other geographical entities - may bid to stage the event.
The IOC meets in Monaco next month to consider sweeping changes to the bidding process.
"If the IOC's going to be looking at changing the rules, they need to be accommodating Gauteng as a competitor for 2024," Bopape was quoted as saying on the insidethegames.biz website yesterday.
"Gauteng would be more than ready."
Durban, which is bidding for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, has already been suggested bygovernment officials as an obvious choice if a South African city were to bid for the 2024 Olympics.
But Bopape insisted Gauteng would be a better option.
"There won't be any competition by virtue of the infrastructure development that we have in place," said Bopape.
If two or more cities from the same country want to bid, a candidate will have to be decided on internally before an official bid is lodged with the IOC.
Gauteng, about 1600m above sea level, will have to address the altitude factor.
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