The Spice Girls to play one-off South Africa date

The Spice Girls are to play a one-off concert in South Africa.

The group sparked rumours of a reunion last week when four former members – Mel B, Mel C, Geri Halliwell and Emma Bunton - had dinner together in London and it has now emerged they were discussing plans for a special show to launch the soccer World Cup next year.

Mel B and her husband Stephen Belafonte have brokered the deal and are keen to press ahead with the plan – even though Victoria Beckham doesn’t want to take part.

A source told Britain’s The Sun newspaper: "Mel is determined to get the girls back together for the World Cup and wants them to plough ahead as a foursome if Victoria doesn't want to take part.

"She has got the others excited by the idea of a one-off appearance. They are very interested."

Following the quartet’s dinner at The Palm restaurant in London last week, Mel was the first of the 'Wannabe’ hitmakers to hint at a reunion.

She posted on her Twitter page afterwards: "Spice girls, stadiums?????????? Had dinner with the amazing melc emma and geri I love them so much (sic)."

Geri further fuelled the speculation earlier this week when she confirmed they had been discussing 'creative plans'.

The singer – who walked out on the group in May 1998 – said: "We are friends first and foremost. Obviously a career and music evolved through that friendship I think. Whatever happens afterwards is a bonus. We always talk about creative plans. Right - now, I'll be honest. We are gathering information about a possibility, but I don't like to... when you are evolving a plan, you don't want to share it with the world."

The girl group shot to fame in 1996 with their hit single 'Wannabe'. They sold over 65 million albums before going their separate ways in 2001.

They briefly reformed in 2007 for the hugely successful 'Return of the Spice Girls' tour, which saw them perform 47 concerts across the world.

The group had planned to perform in South Africa, but cut the tour short. In addition to axing proposed concerts in Cape Town, they also failed to schedule promised dates in Beijing, Sydney and Buenos Aires.