Speaker, today marks the return of the rest of the Olympic athletes from the London 2012 Olympic Games. This includes the gold medal-winning rowing team, the silver medallist Caster Semenya and bronze winner Bridgette Hartley. We congratulate them on their achievements and also wish to thank all the South Africans who took the time to welcome them at O R Tambo International Airport.
What is of concern, however, is the way the sports Ministry has treated some of these athletes in the media. For instance, Miss Hartley's photograph was left out of the poster that was produced to congratulate our medallists. Even though she had won her medal on Women's Day, two days before Miss Semenya won her silver medal, in the published poster Miss Semenya is more prominently displayed than all the other athletes, including Chad le Clos, who beat the world's greatest Olympic swimming champion, Michael Phelps, to claim his gold medal.
The sports Ministry's blunders do not end there. Another poster was produced, which was supposed to advertise the South African Olympic and Paralympic teams, but to our embarrassment the poster included an Australian athlete, as if he were part of our team.
No excuse could justify these blunders and the Minister must ensure that action is taken against those responsible. All our winning athletes deserve to be praised, but the department must not show bias towards one athlete over another and must be aware of all the members of our teams. [Applause.]