By Akani Nkuna
Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille has dissolved the board of directors of South Africa Tourism after it failed to convince her why it should remain in office.
De Lille’s spokesperson Aldrin Sampear said in a statement on Wednesday that the board overstepped its legal framework by convening a special meeting in the absence of a chairperson, who was the sole custody and authority to sanction such a meeting.
The board has had no chairperson since the resignation of Prof. Gregory Davids on 31 July.
“According to legal advice to the minister, the special board meeting of 01 August 2025 was convened unlawfully. Section 18(2) of the (Tourism) Act empowers only the board chairperson to convene a special board meeting,” Sampear said in a statement.
In the past, the minister has been at pains to explain the implications of undermining protocol and due processes when it comes to meetings. It responded in a letter last month that “enhancements have and will ensure that all meetings are properly constituted, chaired and documented”.
This move follows the board’s decision to suspend CEO Nombulelo Guliwe for misconduct last week.
SA Tourism was recently plunged into a scandal over irregularities in the awarding of a R100 million tender to Pomme Express. The company reportedly failed to show proof of experience and allegedly gave false and misleading information in its bid to organise Meetings Africa 2025 and Africa’s Travel Indaba 2025.
The minister will now start the process to appointing a new board and will invite nominations.
Sampear said that in the interim, De Lille would appoint one or more persons to manage the affairs of the board.
The minister has assured South Africans and the tourism sector that these developments would not derail ongoing programmes, including SA Tourism’s collaboration with the Tourism Business Council of South Africa, to deliver a successful G20 summit.
Sampear also said that the inaugural Tourism Investment Summit in Cape Town next month would go ahead.
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