THE RESIGNATION of Reverend Themba Khumalo at the South African Tourism as acting CE- is a sign- all is not well at the entity.
Yes, it’s a hot seat.
“TK” as he’s known amongst peers within the industry, handed his resignation as acting CE and chief marketing officer, respectively.
This was confirmed by the tourism department which oversees the entity.
Department spokesperson Zara Nicholson said Khumalo submitted his resignation to the new interim SA Tourism board last Friday.
According to sources he’s taken a position abroad.
But he’s resignation not only shows the uncharted waters at the agency but also lack of direction and consistency.
Of all the executive positions at SAT none of them were fulfilled or completed their terms, so the case of “TK” is no ordinary.
It’s a known FACT that his resignation follows the controversial R1bn deal the agency wanted to enter into with EPL outfit Tottenham Hotspur, that raised eye-brows to such an extend the President also wanted it to be scrapped.
Khumalo had worked at the agency as chief marketing officer for four years, and as acting CEO for 17 months.
Meanwhile, the parliamentary tourism portfolio committee has accused the newly appointed tourism board members of wanting to take over the entity.
Kholeka Zama, former chief financial officer at Wesgro, Tim Harris, a former CEO at Wesgro, and Vincent Zwelibanzi Mntambo were appointed to sit on the interim board of SA Tourism on April 21.
During a tourism portfolio committee meeting that took place in Durban last week during Africa’s Travel Indaba, chairperson Tandi Mahambehlala requested answers on what had led to Zama’s decision to issue a letter to executives of the entity, informing them that delegation of authority was now placed in the hands of the board.
The letter was written by Zama on April 27, stating that the accounting authority instructed that all decisions taken since the gazette of the appointment of the new board of SA Tourism in terms of the accounting authority delegation to the accounting officer or his delegate be confirmed in writing by the accounting authority. This instruction was effective immediately.
Zama said she wrote the letter as an acting chairperson and was delegated by the chairperson, who was out of town on leave. She said the letter was not a unilateral decision, adding: “On May 9, we met to identify issues, which were the bold reserve matters. The resolution from the meeting has not yet been approved by the same board”.
Mahambehlala said the problem with these three board members was that they had entered and attempted to relegate everyone they had found at the entity to the backbenches.
She stated the country’s tourism sector was in a dire situation and that senior members would leave the entity.
Mahambehlala continued: “These three will remain and run the show. They are here to massacre everyone in senior positions. We are not going to sit here and tolerate this mass relegation of black excellence in our entities.”
The committee members had also threatened not to approve the department’s budget vote if Minister Patricia De Lille refused to remove Harris as the interim board chairperson.
Well-known figures with tourism background, who did not want their identity be known, also lambasted the shenanigans at the agency.
SAT will never come right, as long as people appoint their friends to key positions, said former CEO at one of the tourism agencies.
“This breaks my heart considering we’re only now recovering from the pandemic, and we’re supposed to be working on increasing the inbound of international tourists to our shores and now this. It’s an embarrassment the sector have to deal with,” he said.
Another former executive who used to be at SAT highlighted inconsistency.
“If you go back years’ ago every CEO at the agency has not completed his or her term, it’s a sign of inconsistency and lack of direction. The only way to stop this rot is appointing people with right skills who would not be easily influenced or swayed one way or the other.
Unfortunately, this affect the reputation of the agency as the national and international marketing entity.”
Image SLM (All gone. Former SAT boss Rev TK Khumalo and former minister of Tourism Lindiwe Sisulu at the tourism activation in Sandton last year).
