Tourism industry pledges cooperation with SA Tourism amid board dissolution dispute

The tourism industry has pledged to continue working with the South African Tourism (SA Tourism) despite ongoing legal wrangles over the dissolution of its board.

This commitment follows the Tourism Business Council of South Africa’s (TBCSA) decision to withhold R500 million in Tourism Levy South Africa (TOMSA) funds.

TOMSA is a voluntary 1% levy charged on certain tourism services and paid by tourists through participating businesses to support South Africa’s global destination marketing.

Administered by the TBCSA, the levy is handed over to SA Tourism - the official national tourism marketing and research agency of the South African government - to fund its domestic and international campaigns.

Speaking at the opening of the Tourism Leadership Conference 2025 on Thursday, TBCSA chairman Jerry Mabena said it was important that the work should proceed even though there were legal processes around the SAT board dissolution.

Mabena said South Africa remained open for business and the industry’s job was to keep visitors coming into the country and making them experience the warm South African hospitality. 

“We will continue to find ways of working together with the South Africa Tourism team to ensure that we deliver a great product as we are all called to do,” Mabena said.

“From a TOMSA and TBCSA point of view, these organisations have their own boards. These boards deliberate matters and the boards will, at the appropriate times, make the necessary announcements on the outcomes of these deliberations.

“Furthermore, the application of the levy that we collect will always be done in partnership with SAT and there should be no ambivalence about that. The application of the levy is done via an MOA with SAT, which MOA governs the relationship between the three organizations.” 

The Minister of Tourism, Patricia de Lille, has faced severe criticism since she dissolved the previous SA Tourism board for putting the CEO, Nombulelo Guliwe, on precautionary suspension for misconduct last month. 

She said the board had acted unlawfully and overstepped its powers by taking the resolution to suspend Guliwe without following established protocols by convening a board meeting and taking resolutions on 1 August when it had no chairperson following the resignation of Professor Gregory Davids last month.

De Lille has since appointed a new interim panel to oversee operations of the SA Tourism until a new board of directors is appointed. 

Meanwhile, Democratic Alliance spokesperson on tourism, Haseena Ismail, said the industry’s withholding of the TOMSA was evidence that de Lille has lost the confidence of South Africa’s tourism sector.

“The Council’s move is a clear signal: the industry no longer trusts either SA Tourism or the Minister at its helm,” Ismail said.

“She continues to rely on a narrow procedural argument, while refusing to release the legal opinion she claims backed her action. That secrecy suggests her reasoning cannot withstand proper scrutiny.”

Ismail said De Lille must be aware that the Tourism Act provides for the round robin decision-making process used by the board, but continued to ignore this fact.“The damage is now undeniable: SA Tourism is weakened, cash-strapped, and stripped of credibility,” she said.

“De Lille cannot pass the blame. Her decisions and interference have caused immense harm, and the industry is paying the price.” In 2024, our sector contributed R618.7 billion to the economy, supporting 1.8 million jobs.

Mabena said this year, that number was expected to rise to 1.9 million, and with the right enabling environment, including infrastructure, smarter visas, investment in skills, and aligned policy; tourism could contribute over R900bn to the GDP and support 2.6 million jobs by 2035.

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