Sunday Times reports that Department of Tourism (DOT) Minister Patricia de Lille and the board of South African Tourism (SAT) have locked horns over the board’s decision to institute disciplinary action against the entity’s now-suspended CEO over a R4.1m prepayment to a service provider for work that investigators claim was never done.

At the heart of the matter is a decision by the board to suspend CEO Nombulelo Guliwe, after the office of the Auditor-General as well as a private forensic audit found that she and two other executives no longer employed by the state-owned entity had authorised a R4.1m prepayment to Joburg-based production agency. The audit report recommended consequence management against Guliwe.

Last week, the SAT board announced it had placed Guliwe on precautionary suspension due to serious allegations of misconduct. But De Lille issued a statement declaring the decision null and void, saying the board was improperly constituted as it no longer had a chair or a deputy chair after the resignation of Prof Gregory Davids. The board then immediately shot back at De Lille, reminding her she had ignored repeated requests to appoint a chair. “The delegation of authority says the board needs the minister’s concurrence to institute disciplinary action but not to suspend,” a board insider pointed out.

On Saturday, a defiant De Lille stuck to her guns, saying she had obtained legal advice indicating that all decisions taken by the board on 1 August had been unlawful. De Lille said she would “apprise” the tourism sector on developments at SAT on Tuesday.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Caiphus Kgosana at Sunday Times (subscriber access only)

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