SA lost the right to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games on Monday, and the cries of despair could be heard from Durban to Cape Town. While the image of the country will no doubt take a beating after this week’s events‚ some of us will not shed a tear after missing out, and we are actually planning to put on party hats and blow whistles at the news. These are the reasons losing the bid was actually a good thing: • The billions that would have been used in Durban could be allocated to the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (Nsfas) and other important government service delivery projects. South African institutions of higher learning burnt last year as tertiary students embarked on at-times violent Fees Must Fall protests. Now that SA will no longer be hosting the event‚ a bit of spare change has suddenly become available and it could be directed towards NSFAS funding and other service delivery programmes. • White elephants: Sporting infrastructure could have been improved in Durban b...
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