Economic historian, Johan Fourie, has reignited the idea of Cape Town hosting the Olympic Games, arguing that the 2036 bid could serve as a launchpad for a new kind of South African industrial policy rather than a costly vanity project.

Writing in his blog Our Long Walk, Fourie, who is based at Stellenbosch University, envisions the Games as a private-investment-driven catalyst for urban renewal, transport modernisation, and policy stability. He suggests that the event could: “crowd in” private capital by synchronising infrastructure, housing, and commercial projects around a fixed Olympic deadline, creating what he calls a: “big push” toward long-term competitiveness.

“The state’s role is not about spending hard-earned taxpayer income,” Fourie writes. “It should provide strategic support where it has leverage – freeing up land, streamlining regulation, and co-ordinating investment.” He points to the success of Gauteng’s Gautrain, built through a public-private partnership for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, as a model for a proposed “CapeTrain” linking Cape Town to the West Coast, Winelands, and Cape Flats.

Fourie cites his research showing that Olympic hosts see an 18.2% rise in international tourists.

He also argues that the Games could offer South Africa a decade of policy certainty. “Investors respond less to speeches and more to credible, time-bound actions,” he writes. “The Olympics would anchor expectations and narrow the distance between promise and execution.”

He calls for a minimalist, modular approach to venues, avoiding: “white elephants” while turning temporary sites into post-Games housing or training facilities. For Fourie, the Games’ true legacy would not be in stadiums but in proving that South Africa can deliver growth through discipline, deregulation, and partnership.