When seasoned tourism professionals Enver Duminy, Ravi Nadasen and Rosemary Anderson resigned from the SA Tourism Board, they took with them all the tourism experience on the board.
Duminy is the CEO of Cape Town Tourism. Nadasen is the former COO of Tsogo Sun Hotels. Anderson is the national chairperson of the hospitality industry body Fedhasa.
The three resigned in the first week of February amid growing controversy over the proposed R1-billion SA Tourism sponsorship of English football team Tottenham Hotspur, exposed by Daily Maverick.
The board members have not spoken publicly about the reasons for their resignation, beyond a short statement attributing it to a “difference of opinion”.
Although Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu’s spokesperson Steve Motale subsequently tried to claim that the resignations were related to “misconduct” around the Tottenham deal, Daily Maverick understands that the three had been vocal in their disapproval of the sponsorship proposal.
Tourism experts voice concern about board composition
Two tourism experts, both of whom wished to stay anonymous, expressed concern to Daily Maverick about the loss of Duminy, Nadasen and Anderson’s expertise.
“The three resignations have left the board without any representation from the tourism industry,” one said.
“If the Tourism Board won’t take guidance and advice from the only people who know anything about tourism, what does it say about their usefulness and commitment to improving tourism in this country?”
Attempting to confirm the current composition of the SA Tourism Board was in itself an uphill struggle, since the information on the SA Tourism website is out of date. To make matters more confusing, the board appears to have had at least three different chairs within as many months.
Daily Maverick was passed between the SA Tourism spokesperson and Sisulu’s spokesperson for over a week, but finally managed to obtain the updated list of board members. They are:
- Thozamile Botha (Chair; former trade unionist);
- Nandipha Mbulawa (businesswoman);
- Lehlonolo Rapodile (auditor);
- Mduduzi Zakwe (chartered accountant);
- Hlubi Mazwayi (communications consultant);
- Nondumiso Maphazi (gender commissioner);
- Maudline Mabi (manager at the Eastern Cape rural development agency);
- Leslie Reddy (IT consultant);
- Manqoba Ngubo (entrepreneur);
- Phinda Mhlongo (doctor and health entrepreneur); and
- Odwa Mtati (CEO of the South African International Maritime Institute).
When Daily Maverick suggested to Sisulu’s spokesperson, Steve Motale, that the board was now worryingly light on dedicated tourism expertise, Motale responded:
“It’s so sad the three former members of SA [Tourism] board and their sympathisers have identified you as a partner to use in their agenda against SA Tourism and its board.” [Daily Maverick has in reality had no contact whatsoever with Duminy, Nadasen or Anderson.]
“For the record, these former board members were not pushed out of their positions; they resigned voluntarily. To answer your question, these former board members are not as indispensable and irreplaceable as you would want people to believe. Following their resignation, they were replaced by highly skilled and qualified new board members. In replacing them, Minister Sisulu went for people who are seriously strong on governance, with extensive board experience. As we speak, the SAT Board is stable and fully functional.”
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Sisulu may have broken law in appointing new board members
Meanwhile, the DA said on Tuesday that it had emerged in Parliament’s Tourism Portfolio Committee that Sisulu had appointed replacement board members just four days after Duminy, Nadasen and Anderson’s resignations.
“The Tourism Act is clear in clause 13 (3) which prescribes that the Minister must, before appointing Board members, publish a minimum 30 days’ notice in the Government Gazette and in two national newspapers inviting nominations, and the same must be done after Board members have been appointed,” said the DA’s spokesperson for tourism, Manny de Freitas.
“This means that the prescripts and processes stipulated in the Act were not followed by the Minister. This potentially means that the three newly appointed members may well have been illegally appointed and that any decisions and resolutions made by the Board since the resignations may all be nullified.”
De Freitas said that the explanation given by Sisulu, as to why the board members had to be appointed in such haste, did not hold water.
“The Minister claims that she needed to urgently replace the three board members to ensure that there is a quorum so that the Tottenham Hotspur matter could be discussed. The Minister failed to explain why this was urgent in the first place, particularly considering that the Tottenham deal was only a proposal with no deadline attached to it.”
Sisulu has consistently disputed the claim, reported by Daily Maverick, that she had personally championed the Spurs deal.
Tourism Act also specifies necessary experience of board members
The Tourism Act of 2014 states that members of the SA Tourism Board should be appointed “on the basis of their knowledge, experience or qualifications relating to the functions of the board”.
The functions of the board are, among others, to “market South Africa as a domestic and international tourist destination”, to “develop and implement a marketing strategy for tourism”, and to “advise the Minister on any other matter relating to tourism”.
The board is also required to be “broadly representative of society, with due regard to race, gender and disability”.
SA Tourism CFO resigns after exposure of conflict of interest
On Tuesday evening, SA Tourism released a statement confirming a report in TimesLive earlier the same day that SA Tourism’s acting CFO, Johan van der Walt, had resigned.
Board Chair Thozamile Botha told TimesLive: “We sent him a letter for him to state reasons why he should not be suspended. Instead of responding to say why he should not be suspended, he resigned.”
SA Tourism confirmed that Van der Walt’s resignation had been accepted, and added that the entity’s financial manager, Themba Ndlovu, would act as CFO until a permanent CFO has been appointed.
“Beyond this statement, South African Tourism will not comment any further on this matter,” it said.
Van der Walt was exposed by Daily Maverick as having a significant conflict of interest in the proposed Spurs deal.
An agency for which he had previously worked as CFO, and with which he maintained active business ties, stood to cash in on a R31.3-million “activation” fee if the Spurs deal went through. DM