Boardroom battles, waste, and stalled projects: Insiders warn of ‘rot’ in Tourism Department

Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille’s decision to dissolve the South African Tourism (SA Tourism) board has triggered a political storm, casting a harsh light on deeper governance failures within a department allocated R7.5 billion over the medium term.

In August 2025, the board suspended CEO Nombulelo Guliwe over concerns about labour process violations, attempts to remove executives without consultation, and a R4.1-million irregular prepayment flagged by auditors.

De Lille said that the suspension was unlawful, as the board lacked a chairperson, and dissolved it after “multiple warnings.”

It is alleged that the board itself soon clashed with its chair, Prof. Gregory Davids. In mid-July 2025, members allegedly passed a vote of no confidence, citing failures to act on audit concerns, evaluate the CEO, or engage the minister. Davids resigned on 31 July.

The minister said after legal advice, she had to dissolve it, claiming it had held an “irregular” meeting on 1 August, a meeting former members insist never happened, something the minister says is not true.

De Lille defended her decision to dissolve the board, claiming due process violations, inaction on SIU reports and unresolved complaints between executives.

The Minister insisted her intervention was a duty. “I’m not interfering. It is my responsibility to act when things are not going right,” she said.

Civil society and opposition parties reacted sharply. The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) called the decision “disgraceful,” accusing the minister of political meddling.

OUTA’s Wayne Duvenage told Newsday that the SAT board, appointed by de Lille in September 2024, was made up of respected tourism and governance experts and appeared to be tackling serious issues.

“Instead of supporting her own competent board for holding executive management accountable, the Minister has chosen to protect the SA Tourism CEO by disbanding the very body tasked with oversight.”

“The Minister is grossly overreaching and interfering,” said Duvenage.

Yet, the SA Tourism saga is only the latest flashpoint in a department long criticised for weak oversight, wasteful spending, and stalled projects.

Although the Department received a commendable clean audit last year, this does not mean that all is above board.

Well-placed insiders have warned that the department is “slowly rotting due to maladministration.”

“Instead of dealing with issues head-on, the focus is on saving face through the three Ds – deny, deflect and demonise,” they told Newsday.

SA Tourism: A history of boardroom battles

SA Tourism consumes over half of the DoT’s R7.5 billion medium-term budget. It has been plagued by allegations of corruption, underperformance, and poor financial controls for years.

In 2024, board chairperson Makhosazana Khanyile and deputy Lizelle Haskins resigned after pressure over “excessive meetings” that cost nearly R900,000.

A year earlier, de Lille had dissolved the previous board following its proposed R1 billion sponsorship of English football club Tottenham Hotspur, a plan abandoned after public outrage.

While de Lille claimed to have “saved the country R1.2 billion” and cited a Special Investigating Unit (SIU) report against “delinquent” board members, governance disputes continued.

The latest board came in during a time of significant tender controversies, a R24.1 million budget overspend flagged by the Auditor-General, and only 89% of performance targets met.

“At SAT, there is a lack of institutional integrity as evidenced by instances of material non-compliance reported, a significant increase in irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure,” said the AGSA in its most recent audit.

Adding to the list is the dissolution of the board appointed in September 2024, which the minister said was guided by legal advice.

De Lille said that without a chairperson, they failed “to follow governance procedures, which undermines the integrity of the board and could render outcomes from such meetings procedurally invalid and unlawful.”

Yet civil society, industry bodies, political parties and stakeholders expressed dismay at the dissolution of the board in August 2025, saying that the board was on track to restore integrity to a tainted public entity.

The Tourism Business Council of South Africa said the board had “the right mix of expertise to bring stability when it was most needed.”

The OUTA CEO said that “when we witness a state entity board acting with integrity and diligence, we need to celebrate and support them. What infuriates us is when a minister such as de Lille steps in to dismantle it.”

Duvenage argued that De Lille’s failure to appoint a deputy chair, act on board warnings, or plan succession for the chair suggested deliberate inaction.

He said that this undermined a reform-minded team that had suspended the CEO over alleged misconduct, effectively weakening governance and shielding the very executive under scrutiny.

OUTA urged the dissolved board to challenge the move in court, citing a precedent seen from the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa’s board challenging former Minister Dipuo Peters’ decision to dissolve it.

Duvenage contends that this incident is part of a larger pattern of governance failures in South African state institutions, with significant negative economic consequences for the vital tourism sector.

The Democratic Alliance (DA), co-governing partners in the GNU, accused de Lille of protecting a “rogue CEO” while targeting board members “for political reasons.”

Wasted millions and stalled projects

De Lille told Newsday earlier this year that while there are many success stories of department-funded tourism infrastructure projects, “some of them are not in a good state, I must be honest.”

“I will be visiting those projects unannounced. I want to catch the contractors on site, and they have something to explain because too many infrastructure projects go over time and budget, and we don’t have that extra budget.”

In a 2024 Parliamentary response, the minister referenced an Auditor-General report which points to R104 million in fruitless and wasteful expenditure on fourteen long-delayed infrastructure projects.

The Minister said that the Department launched investigations, and took disciplinary and criminal action against eight implicated officials.

In 2020, the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) was appointed as implementing agent to rescue dozens of stalled projects and improve oversight.

Reporting to Parliament in 2024, the DBSA said 46 of 56 projects were complete and 10 under construction, creating 1,260 jobs at a cost of R788 million.

But opposition MPs argue South Africans are not getting value for money. DA MP Haseena Ismail cited Oaks Lodge in Limpopo, which ballooned to 183% of its budget, as proof of systemic failure.

Her party has called for new DBSA projects to be frozen until feasibility studies are completed.

The Auditor-General’s latest report echoed those concerns, citing R127 million in irregular expenditure over the past five financial years and “a lack of effective oversight” by the department. The department said it is undergoing recovery efforts.

Allegations of dubious tenders

Controversy has also dogged the R175 million Tourism Monitors Programme (TMP), intended to employ young people as safety officers at tourist sites.

In one case, Thembanathi Group was initially told it had won a multi-million-rand tender to implement the project at Ezemvelo Nature Reserve, only for the award to be shifted to a rival joint venture.

This is despite MMC/Siva Security Services’ disqualification for failing to meet technical requirements.

The DoT told Newsday that based on minutes provided, they were only disqualified for failing to submit proof of having an office within the province for which they are applying.

Yet the same minutes showed MMC/Siva had scored just 74.67 in their home province of Gauteng, below the required 80 points to proceed for further consideration.

The Bid Adjudication Committee dropped the office requirement weeks later for Ezemvelo and awarded the Gauteng-based firm the KZN contract.

However, despite the minutes showing the change, the DoT told Newsday that the allegation that the Terms of Reference were altered at the last minute “is unsubstantiated.”

Thembanathi labelled the process “flawed and corrupt,” citing church ties between MMC/Siva’s manager and a senior Department official.

While this connection has been confirmed, the Department has strongly denied all undue influence, saying its investigation into the tender focused on processes rather than individuals involved in the tender process.

The DA has called the overall programme “deeply flawed,” citing poor oversight and procurement irregularities, calling for a full audit.

A Department at a crossroads

For critics, the turbulence at SA Tourism and the wider dysfunction in the DoT ultimately fall at the minister’s feet.

“Where it’s uncomfortable, the minister kicks the can down the road,” said Duvenage. “Where she can blame others, as with the board, she does so for the wrong reasons.”

“Given her history as an anti-corruption crusader, her tenure is an extreme disappointment. South Africa cannot afford more political meddling.”

DA MP Ismail said that “the response of the minister and the department to maladministration claims has been lacklustre at best.”

However, de Lille strongly rejects the criticism. She points to a recent clean audit for the Department itself, though SA Tourism’s audit outcomes have regressed.

De Lille’s office “fully cooperates with investigative bodies,” and she and the Department have encouraged whistleblowers to report concerns to anti-corruption hotlines.

“I remain firm on clean governance,” she told Newsday. “I have appointed an interim board with the necessary skills and will soon call for nominations for a permanent one. These developments will not derail our programmes.”

While de Lille projects calm, insiders have long alleged otherwise.

From abandoned mega-projects to irregular tenders and boardroom battles, quiet maladministration continues to eat away at the undoubtedly good work done in one of South Africa’s key economic departments equipped with one of the best PR teams.

With R7.5 billion at stake over the medium term, critics argue the real risk is not just wasted money, but squandered opportunity, at a time when tourism should be a pillar of South Africa’s economic recovery.