Public Protector complaint laid against Tourism Minister

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has formally lodged a complaint against Tourism Minister Patricia De Lille with the Public Protector for an alleged “abuse of power”.

The complaint pertains to the Minister’s decision to dissolve the South African Tourism (SA Tourism) board in August 2025.

The complaint will include a request for a full investigation to determine whether De Lille acted fairly and lawfully in dissolving the board. 

If the Public Protector finds that the complaint is justified, it will recommend corrective action and can then report the matter to Parliament to ensure that recommendations are followed. 

The DA’s spokesperson on Tourism, Haseena Ismail, said that the SA Tourism board had acted in its legal mandate when it suspended then-CEO Nombulelo Guliwe over serious financial irregularities and abuse of power concerns. 

Former board members said that the minister ignored warnings and Auditor-General investigations that had been tampered with, and proceeded to delay action against the CEO, who was accused of wasting R4.1 million in taxpayer money.

“Instead of allowing due process to run, the minister dissolved the board, initially citing a procedural issue that does not withstand scrutiny, and later providing an entirely different justification,” said Ismail. 

Ismail said that this shift in reasoning raises questions about the transparency and accountability of De Lille’s conduct. 

This complaint is after the DA formally submitted a Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) request to the Department of Tourism to attain a record of De Lille’s decision. 

Ismail said that De Lille failed to comply with the 30-day limit on the PAIA application, necessitating further action. 

An “abuse of power”

“By targeting the board, Minister De Lille appears to have acted to protect the CEO, rather than the public interest.”

Following these events, De Lille has also failed to give Parliament a full record of her decision.

“We will continue to use all available legal avenues, including the Public Protector, to ensure that the truth comes to light,” Ismail said. 

“Minister De Lille must explain her actions or step aside. Public trust in our institutions cannot be sacrificed to protect individual interests.”

The dissolved SA Tourism Board has applied to the High Court to place an urgent interdict on the decision. 

De Lille has filed a notice of intention to oppose the application and told Newsday that she stands by her decision to dissolve the board, insisting that the board exceeded its powers and acted ultra vires when suspending the CEO.

During a parliamentary hearing, De Lille was firm in her position that she was not acting in the protection of the CEO.

She said that she lamented the board’s failure to act on the complaints by the company secretary against the CEO.

She said: “I told the board that they failed the company secretary by not processing her grievances. Is that the actions of a minister who wants to protect the CEO?”

“I detest corruption. I am firm on clean governance,” said the minister.

De Lille said she did not block the board from acting on the allegations of the Ngubane report, but only asked for more information. 

Since the board was dissolved, the entity has lost R500 million in tourism levies. This money is annually collected by private sector tourism operators and administered by the Tourism Business Council of South Africa to fund global marketing campaigns.

The private operators have said that they are not obliged to give SA Tourism this funding.

Newsday reached out to the Ministry of Tourism, but did not receive a response by the time of publishing.