MyZA

News, Directory, Events and Other Stuff

You are here: Home / News / Letters / SA Tourism – The Sinking Ship

SA Tourism – The Sinking Ship

Dear Editor

The DA has called on Minister Patricia de Lille to urgently account to Parliament following the precautionary suspension of SA Tourism CEO, Nombulelo Guliwe.

Instead of focusing on the serious allegations against the CEO, the Minister has focused on whether the Board had the authority to suspend her without a Chairperson, a distraction that risks letting the CEO off the hook.

The DA is committed to due process. However, it cannot be that the Minister attacks the board while giving no attention to serious allegations against the CEO. This forms part of an unfortunate pattern, where the Minister has abdicated responsibility for disciplinary issues in her Department, only intervening once the damage is done.

SA Tourism, which takes up the vast majority of the Department’s budget, has been a consistent problem for tourism in South Africa. Despite overspending on its already-significant budget, it failed to meet 11% of its performance targets last year. These are not the hallmarks of an agency in good health.

We cannot allow yet another year of underperformance from SA Tourism, at the expense of other job-creating programmes like Working on Tourism. Three years of acting CEOs, from 2021 to 2024, significantly destabilised the entity. The Minister must act quickly to steady the ship, by allowing an independent, transparent, and swift investigation to take place, and taking action accordingly.

The DA is in government to fight for jobs and growth. Tourism is vital to both, and if the Minister won’t make sure our entities are working, we will.

Regards

Haseena Ismail MP
DA Spokesperson on Tourism

Category: Tag:

If you feel strongly about this article then feel free to send MyZA a ‘Letter to the Editor’ using the submission form below:

Letter to the Editor

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
If this is in response to an article please include that article title here or as the lead in for the first paragraph of your Letter below.

Separate tags with commas

Localise your letter by naming the city your words are about. Add relevant words describing your subject. Single comma separated words of no more than 5
Your Name(Required)
Your Name will be linked to the website below.
Your personal, business or social media web site
Choose NO to not set up a user account on MyZA. User Accounts will allow you to submit letters under your own Author Name

3 Latest Letters to the Editor:

  • Fun South African fact

    Dear Editor Fun South African fact: towns like Franschhoek and Stellenbosch are home to world-class wine farms set in stunning, scenic surroundings. Regards Aressa Smith In Response to/From: Luxury Properties Seized in New Lottery Crackdown

  • Condolences on the Passing of Lusanda Dumke

    Statement by Leander Kruger MPL – DA Buffalo City Constituency Leader: The Democratic Alliance in Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality mourns the passing of Springbok Women’s rugby player and Mdantsane trailblazer, Lusanda Dumke, who lost her battle with cancer at the age of 28. South Africa has lost an exceptional athlete, a leader, and a source…

  • Rape Kits Delivered, But…

    Statement by Nicholas Gotsell MP – DA NCOP Member on Security & Justice: The DA can confirm that 2 840 rape kits arrived in Cape Town on Monday, following sustained DA oversight and pressure after multiple police stations across the Western Cape were found to be without this critical forensic evidence tool. While this delivery…