Mr Speaker, Deputy President and hon members, the country has managed thus far to stay on schedule with its preparations for the 2010 World Cup. We need to congratulate the many thousands of South Africans who have already contributed to ensuring that next year's event will be a sporting and tourism spectacle.
All the stadiums seem to be ready or very near completion. Now our focus must shift to other logistical and infrastructural issues. Our two foremost concerns are transport and accommodation.
The latter, which is accommodation, seems to be under control at the moment, but we should not underestimate the huge demand that there will be for it. This means that we will have to guard against greedy and unscrupulous people exploiting foreign visitors by providing them with inferior accommodation at astronomical prices. We need to make sure that there are proper channels, perhaps a hotline, to ensure that exploitive behaviour can be addressed swiftly. The mere existence of such a hotline will serve as a deterrent.
The biggest concern at the moment, however, is the question of transport. The Confederations Cup demonstrated that there are still issues surrounding the park-and-ride facilities. Another concern is the implementation of the Bus Rapid Transport, which has been badly received by the taxi industry.
Finally, we need to be sure that the government is properly prepared for the inherent security risk of hosting such a large event. There are risks posed by international tourists, the so-called "soccer hooligans", as well as the domestic security situation during community protests. In all of these cases, proper preparation is critical.
This is an example on an international scale of prevention being better than cure. We need to do everything in our power as South Africans to ensure that none of these political risks come to pass. Thank you. [Applause.]