JOHANNESBURG - South Africa plans to bid for the 2036 or 2040 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the government said Thursday, aiming to bring one of the world's biggest sporting events to Africa for the first time.
The country was the first on the continent to host the football World Cup in 2010.
"South Africa initiates its intention to bid for the 2036 and 2040 Olympic Games," Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said in a press briefing.
She said Pretoria had entered into "continuous dialogue with the International Olympic Committee", headed since June by Zimbabwean Kirsty Coventry.
It is a "preliminary and exploratory engagement that is critical to advance South Africa's intention to bid for the hosting rights of the Olympic and Paralympic Games," Ntshavheni said, without specifying the potential host city.
Cape Town had bid to host the 2004 Games, which ultimately went to Athens in a 1997 vote.
Ntshavheni said South Africa wouldn't require significant investment to improve its already available infrastructure.
"Even if we are offered the games tomorrow, cabinet is confident that we should be able to host them with our facilities," she said.