DA demands answers from minister over SA Tourism CEO saga

The Democratic Alliance (DA), the second-largest party in the governing coalition, has called on Tourism minister Patricia de Lille to urgently account to Parliament following the precautionary suspension of SA Tourism CEO, Nombulelo Guliwe.

SA Tourism is the public national marketing agency of the South African government, with the goal of marketing tourism in the country.

It falls under the Department of Tourism (DoT), backed by a R1.3 billion budget allocation.

On Thursday, 14 August 2025, the board announced that it had placed Guliwe on precautionary suspension effective immediately, citing allegations of serious misconduct.

This followed allegations that she had authorised a R4.1 million advance payment to a service provider for the failed Dubai Expo during the Covid-19 pandemic.

She is accused of making the upfront payment while she was SA Tourism’s chief financial officer.

De Lille’s office has, however, said that “according to the legal advice to the Minister, this decision is unlawful.”

“As of 31 July, the SA Tourism Board does not have a board chairperson following the resignation of Professor Gregory Davids.”

The minister said that this means the board in its current form is not properly constituted to take such a resolution.

However, the DA’s spokesperson on tourism Haseena Ismail said that “instead of focusing on the serious allegations against the CEO, the Minister has focused on whether the Board had the authority to suspend her without a Chairperson.”

Ismail called this “a distraction that risks letting the CEO off the hook.”

The DA said it respects the importance of due process but criticises the Minister for targeting the board while ignoring serious allegations against the CEO.

Ismail said that this reflects an “unfortunate pattern” of the Minister relinquishing disciplinary responsibility, only intervening after damage has occurred.

Ismail said SA Tourism, which accounts for over half of the Department’s R2.4 billion budget, has been a persistent problem for South African tourism.

Despite overspending, it missed 11% of its performance targets last year, reflecting an unhealthy agency.

She warned against another year of underperformance, noting that three years of acting CEOs had significantly destabilised the entity and threatened other job-creating programmes like Working on Tourism.

“The Minister must act quickly to steady the ship, by allowing an independent, transparent, and swift investigation to take place, and taking action accordingly,” said the DA MP.

“If the Minister won’t make sure our entities are working, we will,” she added.

De Lille said that the reason for her statement is because “as the minister, I remain committed to ensuring the adherence to sound governance principles at SA Tourism and will address the above with the board.” 

The minister’s office confirmed with Newsday that she is meeting with the sector tomorrow, 19 August.

Issues at SA Tourism

The public entity is a critical component of the country’s tourism sector. According to the latest Economic Impact Research, in 2025, tourism is forecasted to support 1.9 million jobs.

Domestic and international visitor spending in 2025 is forecasted at R445 billion and R128.8 billion.

Recently, the entity tasked with selling South Africa’s image has been plunged into governance scandals.

City Press recently reported on allegations of irregularities in awarding a tender worth over R100 million.

The company awarded the bid to organise Meetings Africa and Africa’s Travel Indaba 2025, Pomme Express, faced claims of falsified documents and cronyism. No tender was awarded, and investigations are ongoing.

The scandal worsened when corruption allegations emerged after spending around R10 million on audit reports.

With that said, SA Tourism’s scandals long predate Guliwe’s tenure.

A proposed R910 million sponsorship deal with the UK football club Tottenham Hotspur in 2023 sparked controversy, leading to board changes and the resignation of the chief marketing officer and acting CEO.

The board appointed Nomasonto Ndlovu as acting CEO, but she quickly withdrew and went back to her position as chief operations officer for the entity.

This came after a whistle-blower called the SA Tourism hotline to report that Ndlovu had allegedly accepted a R100,000 golden handshake from Qatar Airlines for flights in business class, accommodation, and World Cup tickets.

After Ndlovu’s withdrawal, the board appointed Guliwe as acting CEO in September 2023, and then as permanent CEO at the end of February 2024.