Minister dismisses claims she was draconian over disbandment of SA Tourism board

JOHANNESBURG - Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille has dismissed claims of being draconian amid mounting criticism over the dissolution of the SA Tourism (SAT) board.

On Monday, De Lille defended her decision on the sidelines of the tourism execution lab session at Emperor’s Palace, east of Johannesburg.

She dissolved the board last week after a special meeting where she claims an unlawful resolution was taken.

Some board members have since denied any wrongdoing.

In a public back-and-forth, the minister and the SAT board appear to be at odds over governance and channels of accountability.

The minister said she’s aware of this but denied claims that she dissolved the board to protect the SAT chief executive officer (CEO), Nombulelo Guliwe, for an Auditor General finding against her related to a R4 million payment to service providers made in 2019 when she was still the chief financial officer (CFO).

The prepayments were for the failed Dubai Expo during the COVID-19 pandemic.

De Lille said she needed to raise her objections over what she describes as long-running procedural flaws at several board meetings to prevent the board from undermining governance systems.

She added that she won’t compromise on issues of law, even if it earns her the title of being a "smiling dictator".