Chairperson, hon Minister, hon Deputy Minister and hon members, on behalf of the UDM I would like to take this opportunity to commend the Minister of Sport and Recreation for his sterling work since he took office. His bold leadership is helping to rid different sporting codes of corruption and maladministration. In fact, the Minister's actions have sent a strong message to everyone who is involved in sport administration that adherence to the principles of good governance is not negotiable.
For many years, sporting codes have used public funds without accounting for them. Even in incidents where sports administrators were found to have misappropriated funds, they were either redeployed or fired. They have never been made to face the consequences of their actions by either repaying the money or facing imprisonment. In this regard the different sporting codes should be compelled to develop tougher punitive measures for the people they appoint to positions of authority. We should make it standard practice for sports administrators to develop comprehensive development plans when they take office.
South Africa is renowned for its successful hosting of international sports events, but the nation is regrettably never kept abreast of the patterns of expenditure of the revenue generated from such events. This creates a loophole for administrators to spend the funds as they deem fit. The funds generated from these events should be spent on sports development, as my colleague, hon Lucas, has just said before me.
In addition, as a country we have not been able to co-ordinate the programmes of the Departments of Arts and Culture, Sport and Recreation, and Tourism in a way that promotes tourism. As the Minister has given the example of Australia, it is fitting for me too to make an example of Australia, where the three portfolios I have just mentioned work in tandem to promote tourism. We therefore need to conduct research on how the three departments can be used to promote tourism in South Africa. This will ensure that the hosting of international sports events does not just end up in one-off visits by our international guests, but in repeat business. The UDM supports the Budget Vote. Thank you, hon Chairperson. [Applause.]