Attempts to overturn the tourism minister’s decision to dissolve the board of SA Tourism this week were dismissed in the Pretoria High Court due to a lack of urgency. From Moneyweb.
Former SA Tourism (SAT) board members this week failed in their urgent bid to overturn the Tourism Minister Patricia De Lille’s decision to dissolve the board in August, but have vowed to fight on using any legal means available to them.
“The court ruled that the application to challenge the minister’s decision did not satisfy the legal requirement of urgency. The judgment did not address the substantive merits of the application or the lawfulness of the dissolution itself,” said the former board members in a statement.
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“While we respect the court’s ruling, we are deeply disappointed with the outcome and firmly maintain that the minister’s decision to dissolve the SAT board was unjustified, lacked merit, and constitutes an overreach of authority. The board members remain committed to challenging this decision and will continue to pursue all legal avenues to invalidate the minister’s action and address the illegality of the dissolution.”
De Lille stated she made the decision to dissolve the board after it had placed former CEO Nombulelo Guliwe on precautionary suspension for removing two SAT executives without following fair labour practices or consulting the board.
The dissolution prompted accusations that the minister, in dissolving the board, was protecting Guliwe from accountability during her tenure as CEO of SAT.
De Lille’s reasoning for dissolving the board was that it had contravened proper processes by holding a special board meeting that was not convened by the chair. The previous chair, Professor Gregory Davids, had resigned in July, leaving a vacancy that De Lille said she was in the process of filling.
That vacancy left the board sterilised, prompting it to appoint board member Lawson Naidoo to communicate and manage all board decisions after Davids’s resignation.
De Lille’s decision has been criticised across the political spectrum, as well as by civil society and tourism industry executives.
Naidoo says the ‘unlawful’ board meeting cited by De Lille as the reason for the dissolution never happened.
The case is being scrutinised, not just in the tourism sector, as a test for determining the bounds of ministerial powers, particularly in light of criticism directed by the Zondo Commission into State Capture at powers granted to ministers to hire and fire senior executives and board members at state-owned enterprises.
“Our view is the matter remains urgent,” Naidoo tells Moneyweb.
“The minister has gazetted a notice calling for applications for new members of the board by 5 December. If permanent board members are appointed, we will have no recourse after that. We acted as urgently as we could and it was not a self-created urgency. We disagree with the judge on this point.”
Read: De Lille finds herself isolated on dissolution of SA Tourism board
Naidoo says the former board members are currently speaking to the three members not joined to the proceedings, with a view to again approaching the court on an urgent basis.
“We are steadfast in our dedication to promoting South Africa’s tourism industry and upholding the mission of SAT,” the former board members said in a statement.
Qualified audit
Addressing the Portfolio Committee on Tourism, the Auditor-General South Africa representative for tourism said that SAT had received a qualified opinion for the second year, after flagging R24.2 million in irregular spending.
The national department itself received a clean audit.
