AS reported previously, instability at South African Tourism has led to immediate dissolving of the board.
Today, the Minister of Tourism, Patricia De Lille, showed her mettle by dismissing the entire SAT board.
The Minister, highlighted some discrepancies such as the board, acted prematurely and unlawfully in making an appointment that is the responsibility of the minister under the Tourism Act.
In her scathing letter to board members, she said it contravened its own charter by holding a special board meeting that was not convened by the chair. Nor was there a board resolution adopting the round-robin decision making procedure that was used in making the appointment.
This follows a decision made by the board, without the minister’s approval, to appoint one of its members to communicate and manage all board decisions after previous chair, Professor Gregory Davids, who resigned in July 2025.
As a result, the board was given 48 hours to explain themselves it should not be dissolved. Obviously, they did not.
According to a press statement, the minister had previously cautioned the board of the possible implications of failing to follow due process when convening both special and ordinary meetings.
“On 4 July 2025, in a meeting with the board – followed by a letter to the board dated 13 July 2025 – the minister expressed her concerns about the board’s failure to follow governance procedures, which undermines the integrity of the board and could render outcomes from such meetings procedurally invalid and unlawful.”
“In addition to this, I will also be starting a separate process to recruit members of the board in terms of section 13(3) of the Act. This will be open to all persons who will meet the qualification criteria,” as per the Tourism Act, having informed them on her decision and now in the process of appointing an interim structure,” read the media statement.
It has also came to our attention that last week, during the launch of Tourism Month, De Lille notified the board that its suspension of CEO Nombulelo Guliwe, was unlawful in the absence of a properly appointed chairperson.
“This means the board, in its current form, is not properly constituted to take such a resolution,” she wrote.
Guliwe was placed on precautionary suspension on 13 August, citing governance lapses and dissatisfaction over the handling of the annual Tourism Indaba, that was held in Durban, July 2025.
The board pursued its own legal advice and came to the conclusion that the steps taken to suspend Guliwe, and call a special board meeting were lawful, and based on the legal advice received, it decided to appoint a board member to take over some of the functions of the chair pending the appointment of a new chair, hence the collapse of the entire board.
The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) says it support the minister.
Meanwhile, the Minister has reassured the country that the dissolution of the board will not affect any programmes, including the Tourism Investment Summit in September on the 10, in Cape Town, and the collaboration with the Tourism Business Council of South Africa on the forthcoming G20 in November.
The same board was only appointed in 2024.
The deputy minister of Tourism, Maggie Sotyu, whom I interviewed at the Tourism Month launch last week, did confirm the instability at SAT.
Image (Taking no-nonsense. Tourism Minister Patricia De Lille has fired the entire SAT board with immediate effect for disregarding Tourism Act prescriptions).
