Department of Tourism gave R171 million to 19 enterprises from its equity fund
Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille revealed that her department gave R171 million to 19 enterprises from the Tourism Equity Fund (TEF).
She shared this information in response to a Parliamentary question from National Assembly member Ngwanamakwetle Mashabela.
Mashabela asked the Minister about the implementation status of the Tourism Equity Fund and the Tourism Transformation Fund.
She requested details on the amounts allocated and disbursed, and the numbers of applications received, approved, rejected, and still pending.
De Lille responded, saying the Department of Tourism contributed R600 million to the Tourism Equity Fund (TEF).
Of this R600 million, approvals amounted to R407 million, of which R171 million has been disbursed.
She added that 1,096 applications have been received. Of these, 35 were approved, 544 were rejected, and 517 are still pending.
19 enterprises have been funded through the disbursements of R171 million, which gives an average funding per enterprise of R9 million each.
The Tourism Transformation Fund (TTF), which is implemented by the National Empowerment Fund, received R220 million in funding.
From this R220 million to the TTF, approvals amount to R162 million, of which R131 million has been disbursed.
The fund has received 928 applications, of which 764 were rejected at the basic assessment.
From the 65 applications adjudicated, 5 were declined, 16 were withdrawn by applicants, and 1 was referred back, which left 43 active approvals.
“An additional 99 applications remain pending and are at various stages of assessment and due diligence,” said De Lille.
“39 enterprises are at various stages of completion and operation and have had funds either fully or partially disbursed.”
She explained that many challenges were affecting their business funding, including project non-viability and non-compliance with regulatory requirements.
Other problems include lengthy negotiations between buyers and sellers, expiry of third-party finance approvals, and adverse changes to applicants’ financial positions.
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Ok so money has been given away some R171 million . Entities,that were checked due diligence done . Many not approved . Seems fair and honest .
But being an abused and wary taxpayer , I would want those that have received these funds to be monitored to watch how and where these funds are being spent . Then reports being made public . After all it is our money
That could serve as a measure for future projects or to stop if it is just another taxpayer funding waste exercise .