Resignation of COO Darryl Erasmus has left the agency rudderless, say industry executives. From Moneyweb.
SA Tourism has lost another key executive – this time chief operating officer Darryl Erasmus whose resignation becomes effective on 13 February.
This follows a string of resignations and dismissals which has left government’s premier tourism marketing body rudderless, according to industry executives.
“There’s no one steering the ship at SA Tourism [SAT],” says Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa, CEO of the Tourism Business Council of SA (TBCSA).
“It receives a huge chunk of money to market SA to international markets, but we are still not back to pre-Covid levels in terms of overseas arrivals.
“The CEO of SAT has been suspended, the COO and marketing officer have resigned, and the current board is there on [an] interim basis. It’s in chaos.”
David Frost, CEO of the Southern Africa Tourism Services Association (Satsa), agrees.
“We are now dealing with an organisation that is dysfunctional at best and in crisis at worst,” says Frost.
“We collect the private sector levy which we hand over every year, but they’ve had a qualified audit since 2022, and we’ve held that money back since then.”
SA Tourism is the state-run agency responsible for marketing SA as a tourism destination, both locally and abroad. It’s work is supported by private sector organisations such as TBCSA and Satsa.
Read:
De Lille finds herself isolated on dissolution of SA Tourism board
Patricia de Lille’s descent into the governance abyss
‘It’s a disgrace’ what’s happening at SA Tourism – Southern Sun chief
At a press briefing on Tuesday, Minister of Tourism Patricia de Lille highlighted the role of tourism in creating jobs and supporting the economy, pointing to a 17.6% jump to 10.48 million in international arrivals over 2024 numbers.
This is the highest number of arrivals on record, but a deeper dive into the figures show most of these arrivals are from neighbouring countries.
“If you look at overseas arrivals from outside Africa, in 2019 we had 2.6 million visitors, and last year this figure was just 2.39 million, which means we are not fully recovered from the Covid crisis,” says Tshivhengwa.
“We’re at 92% of pre-Covid levels, while other destinations in Africa have sailed past 2019 levels to hit new records. We’re a long way from that.”
Travellers to Africa are heading elsewhere
Morocco and Egypt have seen tourism numbers soar past pre-Covid levels, reporting 40-50% growth over 2019. This is due to improved air connectivity, marketing and better packaging of key attractions.
Kenya, too, reported strong growth in tourism numbers over the last two years, achieving 134% of pre-Covid levels by 2024.
Kenya embraced digital visas, alongside remote working visas, to attract visitors from overseas.
It has a target of attracting seven million tourists by 2027, more than double the 2.5 million visitors in 2024.
SA was named the best destination in Africa in 2025 by Travel Weekly Reader’s Choice Awards, which De Lille says reflects deliberate policy choices, focused implementation, and strong collaboration between the government and the private sector.
Cabinet has endorsed the Tourism Growth Partnership Plan, developed jointly with industry and led by the South African Tourism Business Council.
“The plan is anchored on five priorities and supported by a real-time performance dashboard to ensure accountability and delivery,” says the Ministry of Tourism in a statement.
‘Dysfunctional’
The loss of Erasmus at SAT follows another recent resignation – that of chief marketing officer Thembisile Sehloho, after De Lille dissolved the SA Tourism board in August last year for allegedly exceeding its powers.
The board had placed previous CEO Nombulelo Guliwe on precautionary suspension on 13 August, citing governance lapses and dissatisfaction over the handling of the Africa Travel Indaba held in Durban in July.
De Lille maintains this suspension was unlawful in the absence of a properly appointed chair – something the dismissed board refutes.
The former board members have taken De Lille to court to overturn her decision.
Read: Former SA Tourism board members vow to fight on against De Lille
In November, President Cyril Ramaphosa ordered the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to investigate allegations of serious maladministration and improper conduct at SAT, focusing on payments for media services that were never delivered.
Read: Ramaphosa orders probe into misconduct at SA Tourism
The result is a dysfunctional organisation unable to fulfil its mandate, say tourism executives.
Arrivals should be growing, not ‘recovering’
An analysis by Satsa shows that only arrivals from the US and Australia have recovered to pre-Covid levels.
More flights and electronic visas to boost numbers
Government is determined to make it easier to get visas, commencing with an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) system in key markets like India, China, Mexico, and Indonesia.
The ETA system was successfully piloted during the G20 Summit in November last year. The full rollout is projected to create between 80 000 and 100 000 jobs, says De Lille.
Read: G20 Summit a ‘powerful showcase’ for SA tourism and property
More flights should also boost arrivals numbers. New routes include the Qantas direct Perth-Johannesburg flight, Air France’s seasonal daily service to Cape Town, SAA’s Cape Town-Mauritius route, and expanded domestic connectivity such as FlySafair’s Hoedspruit-Cape Town service.
‘Messaging to markets is poor’
Not everyone agrees with De Lille’s rosy assessment of the state of SA tourism.
The Trusted Tour Operator system was launched by the Department of Home Affairs in 2025 to make it easier for vetted tour operators get fast visa approvals for tour groups.
“The Trusted Tour Operator system [has been] operating since March but we’re worse off than when it was launched, particularly in markets like China,” says Frost.
“The underlying messaging to these markets is poor. We’ve had sight of their business plans and they are not up to scratch.
“What would be optimal would be to have a proper, structured engagement with SA Tourism, but there’s nobody to engage with,” says Frost.
“We made the most progress with the previous [dismissed] board, which was the most competent ever assembled. They had the right experience, but De Lille fired that board. The current board has no experience in international marketing – how will they hold their colleagues to account?”
The new electronic visa system is a step in the right direction but it remains a pilot project for now, says Lawson Naidoo, a former board member at SAT who was dismissed by De Lille.
“It’s limited to a few dozen tour operators. This needs to be rolled out far more aggressively.”
Back to court for the board
Meanwhile, the former SAT board continues its campaign in court to overturn De Lille’s decision to dismiss it.
Listen/read: SA Tourism board dismissal reeks of ministerial overreach – Satsa
An application to overturn the minister’s decision was thrown out late last year because not all dismissed board members had been joined to the proceedings. This was at the insistence of the minister.
This has now been rectified, but the minister is now opposing the joinder.
The only way to explain this is a classic Stalingrad tactic.
“She has unlimited access to public funds, we are funding our case ourselves,” says Naidoo.
