Tourism industry raises alarm over leadership turmoil in South African Tourism Board

The Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA) - the umbrella organisation representing businesses in the hospitality, travel, and tourism sector - has voiced serious concerns over recent upheavals within the board of South African Tourism (SA Tourism).

This comes after the SA Tourism board on Thursday placed CEO Nombulelo Guliwe on precautionary suspension effective immediately, following serious allegations of misconduct.

Leadership instability at the national tourism agency responsible for marketing the country as a preferred tourist destination comes just a month before one of South Africa's biggest tourism conferences hosted by TBCSA.

In a statement on Friday, TBCSA highlighted Guliwe's reported suspension and the resignation of board chairperson, Professor Gregory Davids, last month as glaring concerns.

Compounding worries for the tourism industry, there are discussions around the potential dissolution of the board itself.

These developments come at a time when the tourism sector is still in a precarious state of recovery following the tumultuous impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

TBCSA said it was alarmed by the leadership instability as it could derail significant progress made in revitalising the tourism market.

"These matters are deeply troubling as the sector is still in recovery mode," said TBCSA chairman, Jerry Mabena.

"The TBCSA calls on the Minister, Hon. Patricia de Lille, to urgently address these matters. The TBCSA further stands in support of the work of the ministry and department in ensuring that tourism programs are not delayed or adversely affected."

In light of these circumstances, the TBCSA called upon the Minister of Tourism, Patricia de Lille, to take swift action in addressing these pressing issues.

The organisation expressed unwavering support for the Ministry and the department's efforts in ensuring that existing tourism programmes continue unabated and are not hindered by the ongoing uncertainties.

Looking ahead, the TBCSA said it plans to engage with other key tourism stakeholders, including the board of SA Tourism, in the coming week in a bid to discuss strategies to collectively support the organisation during this turbulent period.

Meanwhile, De Lille's office declared the board's decision null and void since it no longer has a chairperson nor a deputy chairperson.

In a brief statement in response to this suspension, the department said De Lille has noted the decision by the board and said it was "unlawful".

"As of 31 July 2025, the South African Tourism Board does not have a board chairperson following the resignation of Professor Gregory Davids. This means, the board in its current form is not properly constituted to take such a resolution," said the department.

"Minister de Lille, remains committed to ensuring the adherence to sound governance principles at South African Tourism and will address the above with the board." 

Guliwe, a qualified Chartered Accountant, was appointed to the CEO position for a five-year period in February 2024 following a comprehensive recruitment process.

In nearly 10 years with the organisation, Guliwe has served in various leadership roles throughout her career including chief financial officer at SA Tourism since August 2019.

Under Guliwe's tenure, SA Tourism was recently plunged into a tender scandal after allegations of irregularities in the awarding of a R100 million tender to Pomme Express.

Pomme Express was reported to have failed to show proof of experience and alleged to have provided false and misleading information in its bid toorganise Meetings Africa 2025 and Africa’s Travel Indaba 2025.

While in the position of action CEO, Guliwe was accused by a group of SA Tourism employees of bullying and enforcing a culture of intimidation and intimidation, but the board at the time dismissed those allegations as baseless. 

Democratic Alliance spokesperson on tourism, Haseena Ismail, said the party was "deeply concerned" by allegations of misconduct against the CEO of SA Tourism.

Ismail said SA Tourism, which takes up the vast majority of the department's budget, has been a consistent problem for tourism in South Africa.

"The investigation into these allegations must be independent, transparent, and swift. We cannot repeat the experience of having acting CEO after acting CEO, with none steadying the ship at SA Tourism," Ismail said.

"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. The Minister must act quickly to steady the ship, at the risk of allowing SA Tourism yet another year of substandard performance." 

BUSINESS REPORT