Minister hits back as DA turns to Public Protector

Tourism Minister Patricia De Lille has responded to the Democratic Alliance (DA) after the party announced it will be taking the minister to the Public Protector for her decision to dissolve the board of South African Tourism (SA Tourism). 

“The minister will cooperate with any investigation relating to her decisions and also her functions as the Minister of Tourism,” De Lille’s spokesperson Aldrin Sampear told Newsday.

“The minister stands by the reasons that she has given to both the public and the Portfolio Committee on why she has dissolved the board,” Sampear said. 

De Lille’s spokesperson added, however, that the matter is currently before the court, as the dissolved board members filed a court application to block the decision, which the minister is actively challenging. 

The Public Protector, while having the ability to investigate any matter in government or state-owned entities, is not permitted to investigate court decisions.

It is likely, then, that the court will decide whether the minister acted lawfully and fairly when dissolving the board. The matter will be heard in the North Gauteng High Court on 14 October. 

In her responding affidavit, De Lille accused the dissolved board of subjecting her to a “trial by media” before the actual trial begins. 

She said this has been an attempt by the board to coerce her into changing her decision, which she will not do.

Minister’s alleged abuse of power case heads to court

De Lille dissolved the board of SA Tourism in August 2025, after the board suspended CEO Nombulelo Guliwe for alleged financial mismanagement – a decision which she said was unlawfully made at an irregular meeting.

She has said that she will not comment further on the allegations until the supporting documentary evidence has been submitted. 

This includes Auditor-General findings of material irregularities linked to Guliwe, agendas, and meeting minutes of the dissolved board’s decision to suspend the CEO, and copies of grievances laid against the CEO by board members. 

During a parliamentary hearing following the dissolution, 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 decision, the minister has allocated an interim board to SA Tourism, including a new interim CEO, Dale Erasmus. 

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 obligated to provide SA Tourism with this funding.