South Africa's sports minister Gayton McKenzie insists the country is in pole position to land a spot on the Formula 1 calendar by 2027.
There were plans to return to the country after a 30-year absence this year which fell through. As a result, Lewis Hamilton's dream of racing in Africa took a significant blow.
However, F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali, who has also voiced a desire for the sport to add an African event to its schedule, met McKenzie at September's Azerbaijan Grand Prix and that has encouraged the government official enough to now make a bold statement about the future.
He told TV station SuperSport: "Let me tell you, when I announced that my term will be a failure if we don't bring F1, then everybody laughed, because South Africans underestimate themselves. I said, 'I'm going to start the work'. My team, we put in the work, made the calls, we met with F1 twice.
"Where we are at the moment, and it's the first time people hear this, we are going to announce a committee next week. The committee will then choose which promoter will promote F1, it's going to happen."
F1's last South African Grand Prix was held at the Kyalami circuit, near Johannesburg, in 1993. It was won by Alain Prost in a Williams from his former McLaren team-mate Ayrton Senna, while Britain's Mark Blundell also made the podium.
Kyalami does not currently meet FIA Grade 1 standards, which is required for any track to host an F1 race. The circuit announced last month that Apex Circuit Design has been called in to oversee upgrades to the facilities with the recommended upgrades said to cost up to £8million.
McKenzie added: "The race is going to happen at Kyalami. Kyalami is doing what they need to do. [Circuit bosses] Toby Venter and Willie Venter and are doing a great job bringing Kyalami to F1 standards. They have put money in there, it is there.
"They have met with Apex, that is doing the track to bring it to F1 standards. We are making sure that we are going to host, so I think we looking at 2027. We were there, it's going to happen. It's coming here."
There will be a space on the F1 calendar after 2026 after Dutch Grand Prix bosses announced that year's race at Zandvoort will be their last in the sport. It remains to be seen how F1 chiefs will choose to fill that gap but, with Domenicali's desire to add an African event to the schedule, Kyalami will surely be a contender.
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