The Tourism Minister was grilled in Parliament over her decision to dissolve the SA Tourism board.
Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille has defended her decision to dissolve the SA Tourism board, while rejecting allegations of corruption in parliament.
De Lille and the former SA Tourism board members appeared before the portfolio committee on tourism on Tuesday to account for the controversy surrounding the board’s dissolution.
De Lille explains why SA Tourism board was dissolved
On 19 August, De Lille disbanded the SA Tourism board, citing concerns that it had exceeded its powers by appointing a “board representative” with authority similar to that of a chairperson.
This followed the resignation of board chairperson Gregory Davids on 31 July.
According to De Lille, the board also unlawfully convened a special meeting on 1 August.
“The legal advice to me confirmed that the actions of the board were unlawful and ultra vires,” she told MPs.
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The minister alleged that former board member Lawson Naidoo, executive secretary of the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution (Casac), assumed the powers of the chairperson, including authorising payments outside valid contracts.
“While the board denies that Mr Naidoo is the board chairperson, it’s evident from actions since 1 August 2025 that the powers of the so-called board representative include powers exclusive to the board chairperson,” De Lille said.
She argued this was “a clear contravention of procurement and financial governance prescripts”, and that Naidoo had placed “the entire board at risk, as he was purportedly acting on their behalf”.
Allegations of protecting the CEO
Some critics accused De Lille of dissolving the board to shield suspended SA Tourism CEO Nombulelo Guliwe.
However, she rejected this suggestion, pointing to her previous criticism of the board’s handling of complaints against Guliwe.
“I want to go back to the meeting of the 4th of July 2025, again in that meeting, I lamented the board’s failure to act on the complaints by the company secretary against the suspended CEO.
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“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?” De Lille asked.
The minister added there was “no crisis” as a result of the board’s dissolution, confirming that a six-member interim team has been appointed to manage SA Tourism until a new permanent board is named.
“The current group of six will process all matters related to the CEO,” she said.
Former SA Tourism board pushes back
Naidoo disputed the minister’s reasoning, telling MPs that her grounds for dissolving the board did not amount to “good cause” as required by law.
He highlighted that the minister’s 13 August letter to the board asked members to provide reasons why they should not be dissolved, to which they responded within 48 hours.
However, he said their urgent request for a meeting went unanswered.
Naidoo contended that De Lille’s final letter of 19 August contained “different reasons” from her initial correspondence.
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He also denied that a meeting had taken place on 1 August.
“If we had held a meeting, there would have been no reason for us to take a decision by way of a round-robin resolution.
“A round-robin resolution is taken through electronic communication when it cannot assemble the members of the board in one place and at one time. So there was no meeting on the 1st of August.”
He argued that because the reasons in De Lille’s two letters were inconsistent, the board had no chance to respond to the second set of allegations.
Minister ‘blue-ticked’ SA Tourism board
Naidoo further explained that Davids’ resignation coincided with Guliwe’s suspension of the company secretary, both on the day of a critical board meeting.
“The board was, therefore, dealing with some critical issues relating to the submission of the annual financial statements, needing to deal with the issue around the suspension of the company secretary and the absence of the minister appointing an acting chair.
“The minister says we did not ask her to do so, but as my colleague will illustrate, we had, two weeks before that, unanimously passed a motion of no confidence in the chair and submitted it to the minister with a letter appealing to her to urgently appoint a chair and a deputy chair of the board. The minister did not act on that.”
He stressed that board discussions were collective.
“There were several discussions via WhatsApp and email,” he said.
“I was not appointed by the board as the acting chair, interim chair or anything of that nature, and it was made very clear to the minister that this was in order to enhance the functioning of the board’s work.”
Watch the meeting below:
Naidoo said the board had decided to suspend Guliwe on 1 August due to the manner in which she had suspended the company secretary and chief marketing officer, alongside other staff.
Another former board member echoed the criticism, saying De Lille “blue-ticked” their earlier request to appoint a deputy chair before Davids’ resignation.
“This challenge that we are facing is not on the board. It is on the dereliction of the minister for not performing her functions because if there was a deputy chair this meeting today was not going to happen.”
De Lille rejects corruption claims
Later in the meeting, De Lille addressed MPs’ questions about alleged ties with Guliwe and accusations of corruption.
She insisted that anyone alleging she is protecting corruption should approach the Hawks with evidence.
“I can’t even spell corruption correctly because I hate it. I hate it. I don’t want to smell corruption anywhere in government,” De Lille said.
The minister claimed that she could open her bank accounts and even invite people to her home, further pointing out that the president had already conducted lifestyle audits on the executive.
“I will not tolerate anybody even insinuating that I have got a corrupt relationship with anyone in this country.”
De Lille also rejected suggestions that she had failed to consult parliament before dissolving the board.
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