De Lille says she welcomes legal action from the dissolved SA Tourism Board

Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille said that she welcomes the legal action taken by the dissolved board members of South African Tourism, who are seeking to have the Gauteng High Court declare her decision unlawful.

Last week, the aggrieved board members approached the High Court not only to overturn De Lille’s decision but also to interdict her from appointing a new board. It also wants the dissolution suspended and the board reinstated.

The minister accused the board of irregularly convening a meeting in August to appoint a chairperson following the resignation of former chairperson Gregory Davids on July 31 in the wake of placing CEO Nombulelo Guliwe under precautionary suspension.

De Lille has faced public scrutiny for her decision to dissolve the board last month.

“Well, it is their right to go for legal action. I actually welcome it, because if there are different interpretations of the law, it is only a court of law, and a judge that can decide that,” De Lille said.

The minister was speaking to the media while on a tour of the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town, where the Tourism Investment Summit is set to take place on Wednesday.

De Lille confirmed that her department has filed papers to oppose the court action by the board.

“The matter is sub judice; we filed papers last week Friday to oppose, and so now the law must take its course.”

According to the minister, the board acted “prematurely and unlawfully”, and she had previously cautioned it about the possible implications of failing to follow due process when convening special and ordinary meetings.

Meanwhile, the inaugural summit will convene global leaders, policymakers, investors, and industry stakeholders with a view to driving investment and developing a robust investment pipeline for South Africa’s tourism industry.

“We have lagged in investing in tourism infrastructure, and the idea is to invest in new products. We have to diversify our products for tourists who come to visit our country. There is a perception that South Africa is all about safaris and Table Mountain. Those are iconic places.

“Tourism Investment Summit is going to bring out new products, new places that they can visit, but it is also going to create work and jobs. It is going to help to add to the growth of our economy and to our GDP, and yes, we are starting with eight projects to the value of R1 billion, but we are continuing to build a pipeline, so that next year we’re going to repeat the investment summit and make it an annual event.

“It is a big spinoff for our economy, and we also want to focus on getting more young people into jobs,” De Lille said.

theolin.tembo@inl.co.za