The president of the International Olympic Committee, Dr Thomas Bach, concluded his visit to South Africa by saying “Africa is on the rise” and vowing to continuing encouraging development on and off the field on the continent.
President Bach was visiting South Africa for the second time since being installed as IOC president – it was the first country he visited after being elected in 2013 – and he left by praising South Africa.
“Africa is on the rise and South Africa has the stability, the infrastructure and vision to stage an Olympics,” he told a media briefing in Johannesburg on Sunday, ahead of being treated to a traditional “braai”.
“I’m here to highlight the ever-growing importance of a young continent like Africa in the Olympic movement and to support this development,” President Bach said. “The hosting of the 2026 Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal, underlines the importance of Africa in the Olympic movement.”
The IOC president had arrived in South Africa on Saturday, having spent time in Senegal, before departing to continue his fact-finding and strong messaging of the continent. He was hosted by the president of SASCOC, Barry Hendricks, and his high-profile delegation included honorary IOC member Dr Sam Ramsamy, IOC member Anant Singh, ANOCA president Mustapha Berraf.
President Bach also enjoyed a session with the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie. “I had a fruitful discussion with the Minister,” he said. “He shares the same passion and commitment to sport that I’ve seen wherever I’ve gone. I also saw the relationship that the Sports Minister and the SASCOC president havce. They share the same goals and respect each others’ goals. That’s another ingredient for success.”
While on his trip to South Africa, he attended the SASCOC Athletes Commission Indaba at Olympic House on Saturday. The experience left a lasting impact on a leader who himself is a former athlete, winning Olympic gold in fencing in 1976.
“Wherever I go in the world I always insist on meeting the athletes. When I attended the athletes’ forum (annual commission indaba) it was impressive to see how close the relationship with the athletes and SACOC is. The president (Hendricks) knows the athletes by name, he knows their stories. The athletes smile when they see the CEO (Nozipho Jafta).
“It’s impressive to see how close the federations are to SASCOC. The athletes have a voice, they have a vote, and both their voices and votes are heard and respected. This is a recipe for success. South Africa doubled their Olympic medals tally from Tokyo to Paris and in Paris they had the same number of medals (six) at both the Olympics and Paralympics. That’s a sign of their success and growth,” President Bach added.
The IOC president also paid special mention to gender equality in sport. “I wanted to meet the strong women in sports in Africa and see and promote more gender parity,” he said.
Photo: Minister of Sport, Art and Culture Gayton McKenzie, IOC President Thomas Bach and SASCOC president Barry Hendricks
Credit: Greg Martin/IOC