Tourism industry calls for action to end leadership crisis in SA Tourism board

Tourism organisations have voiced serious concerns over recent upheavals within the board of South African Tourism (SA Tourism) and the potential impact this might have in marketing the country as a tourist destination.

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.

In a statement on Friday, the Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA) - the umbrella organisation representing businesses in the hospitality, travel, and tourism sector - 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.

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 TBCSA also 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 following Davids' resignation.

"This means, the board in its current form is not properly constituted to take such a resolution," said the department.

Meanwhile, South African Tourism Services Association (SATSA), representing the voice of inbound tourism in South Africa, said it will be engaging with both the SA Tourism board and the Minister of Tourism to establish the facts regarding recent developments.

"SATSA has confidence in the private sector professionals appointed to the SA Tourism Board to guide South Africa's tourism marketing efforts,” said SATSA CEO, David Frost.

“We urge the Minister to meet urgently with the Board to resolve this matter in the appropriate way. It is essential that the Minister and the board engage in constructive discussion as soon as possible to find a resolution.”

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.

"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," Ismail said.

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

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