But plans to oppose the urgent application by the dismissed board demanding reinstatement. From Moneyweb.
Tourism minister Patricia de Lille found herself isolated before Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Tourism, with the ANC, DA, EFF, and MK parties all calling for her to reverse her decision last month to dissolve the SA Tourism (SAT) board for holding what she said was an unlawful special board meeting.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) says De Lille’s “dismal handling” of SA Tourism has cost R500 million, while her tenure as minister has been marked by one scandal after another.
Read: De Lille dissolves SA Tourism board
The R500 million comprises tourism levies collected from private sector operators and administered by the Tourism Business Council of SA. Traditionally, these funds have been handed over to SA Tourism to help in its campaigns to attract tourists to SA, but the council has decided to withhold the funds because of instability at SAT.
De Lille was grilled by the Portfolio Committee on Tourism earlier this month, particularly her claim of an unlawful meeting, which was immediately contradicted by the former SAT board representative Lawson Naidoo.
There was no such meeting, says the fired board, though De Lille stuck to her guns, questioning how a resolution appointing Naidoo as the SAT board spokesperson could have been passed without a meeting. That appointment was made by a round robin vote among the board members, responded Naidoo.
De Lille also claimed before parliament that her legal advice was that the Tourism Act does not allow for a single member of the board to communicate and implement decisions on its behalf. That’s now going to be decided by the courts.
Listen/read: SA Tourism board dismissal reeks of ministerial overreach – Satsa
Meanwhile, the fired board has approached the Pretoria High Court on an urgent basis, asking that the minister’s decision to dissolve the board be set aside and the former members reinstated. They are also requesting that the minister be prevented from appointing a replacement board. The minister’s office has indicated they will oppose the application, although it has yet to file papers outlining their case.
Shifting reasons
The fired board members’ court application says the minister changed her reasons for the dissolution and relied on incorrect facts, mischaracterising the round-robin resolution of 1 August 2025 (appointing Naidoo as board spokesperson) as an unlawful special meeting.
The Tourism Act requires good cause to dissolve a board, which was absent from the minister’s decision.
The court application provides detailed background to the events leading up to the board’s dissolution, including a material irregularity finding by the Auditor-General SA arising from an upfront payment to the WWP Group for the Dubai Expo Dome in 2021.
The board commissioned a forensic report which found that the then SAT chief financial officer Nombulelo Guliwe – who was later appointed CEO – approved an upfront payment of R4.2 million to WWP Group, and there was no evidence that SAT received value for the payment.
The forensic report found that the payment contravened National Treasury regulations and recommended that consequence management be instituted against Guliwe. The board commenced disciplinary proceedings against Guliwe, who by then had been promoted to the CEO position, with the minister being asked for her concurrence. Other than acknowledgement of receipt of the draft charges and supporting documents, no substantive response was received.
Read: SA Tourism insists that it is spending its budget
On 31 July 2025, Guliwe placed the company secretary on precautionary suspension. This exceeded the CEO’s powers, as the company secretary reported directly to the board.
On the same day, in a surprise move, Professor Gregory Davids resigned as chair with immediate effect. A day later, on 1 August 2025, the CEO placed the chief marketing officer on precautionary suspension with just one hour’s notice. Both the suspended company secretary and chief marketing officer had lodged grievances against the CEO, raising concerns that their suspensions may have been retaliatory.
Given these sudden suspensions and the resignation of the chair, the board resolved to designate Naidoo as the board representative “to communicate and implement, on behalf of the board as a collective, all decisions taken by the board,” reads Naidoo’s affidavit before the court.
On 4 August 2025, the board decided to place the CEO on precautionary suspension over several governance issues, including:
- Guliwe’s unilateral suspension of the company secretary and chief marketing officer without reference to the board, to which the company secretary reported;
- An unapproved alteration of a board-approved letter to the Auditor-General, introducing disclaimers and commentary that had not been approved by the board.
On 12 August 2025, the minister intervened with a letter to the board, asserting that the round-robin resolution was unlawful and contending that under the Tourism Act only the minister has the power to appoint board members. She also advised that she was considering dissolving the board and asked for written reasons within two days as to why this should not be done.
Read: Backlash over De Lille’s decision to dissolve SA Tourism board
“The minister’s letter proceeds on an incorrect premise,” deposes Naidoo. “I was already a duly appointed member of the board, appointed by the minister herself, and the resolution of 1 August 2025 did not appoint me as a board member, nor as a chair or deputy chair.” It merely allowed him to communicate and implement decisions already taken by the board as a collective.
The Tourism Act makes clear that any decisions made by a majority of board members constitutes the decisions of the board, and that decisions are not invalidated by a vacancy.
The minister’s original reason for wanting to dissolve the board was because of the round-robin meeting, but this later changed when she objected to the resolution having arisen from a special meeting.
The minister’s ‘fabrication’
“This claim is not just a mere misunderstanding; it is a fabrication designed to silence a board that was on the verge of exposing serious allegations of misconduct and corruption within South African Tourism,” said Southern Africa Tourism Services Association (Satsa) chair Oupa Pilane at the organisation’s recent conference.
“This act is not governance. This is obstruction. This is not accountability. It is a deliberate attempt to shield mismanagement and protect personal agendas at the expense of public good.”
The Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA) had agreed with the minister to mediate the dispute between her and SAT.
“Yet, the moment that call ended, the minister unilaterally dissolved the board. This was not just a procedural misstep; it was an act of disrespect – duplicity at its worst – to the industry and a direct assault on good governance by the minister,” said Pilane.
Listen/read:
SA Tourism gets a permanent CEO and new board [Feb 2024]
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Another shakeup at South African Tourism [Oct 2024]
The minister’s replacement board for SAT was conceived by herself, without even consulting her deputy minister or the TBCSA. Among those appointed are people of questionable character, some linked to dubious government tenders that have not been explained, Pilane added.
Further outraging tourism professionals is the minister’s decision to skip promoting SA tourism at international exhibitions such as IMEX and the International Golf Travel Market.
Pressure on De Lille to go
President Cyril Ramaphosa is facing pressure from some on parliament and the private sector to axe De Lille and replace her with someone more attuned to the needs of SA tourism. The fired board represented a “dream team” packed with experienced tourism experts, says David Frost, CEO of Satsa.
Listen: Strategic tourism is key to reviving the economy
“SAT is falling apart because the minister intervened to stop the former board from steadying the ship. The industry has clearly lost faith in SAT and the minister. These are grounds for her to leave,” said the DA in a statement.
“If we succeed in our court case, as I believe we will, the dissolved board would then be reinstated. My view is that we would need an independent facilitator, such as the Institute of Directors, to set up ground rules to clarify the powers of the minister, the board, and proper governance practices,” said Naidoo.
