Illegally constituted SAT Board must be fixed

Dear Editor

I will be writing to the new Minister of Tourism, Patricia de Lille about the presently illegal South African Tourism (SAT) established by her predecessor.

The latest 3 SAT Board members appointed after the resignation of 3 SAT Board members at the beginning of February 2023, were irregularly appointed by previous Minister of Tourism, Lindiwe Sisulu.

The 3 resignations were submitted 1 February 2023, and Sisulu appointed the replacement board members 4 days later. The Tourism Act is very clear about how SAT board members are appointed.

The Tourism Act prescribes in clause 13 (3) that the Minister must invite nominations, publish this in the Government Gazette for a minimum of a 30-day notice and in two national newspapers. The same must be done after Board members have been appointed.

This means that the prescripts and processes stipulated in the Act were not followed by the Minister. This means that the three newly appointed members have been illegally appointed and that any decisions and resolutions made by the present board since the resignations must be illegal as these decisions and resolutions were made by an unprocedural and illegal SAT Board.

Minister de Lille must ensure that the Board is properly and legally constituted. In addition, she needs to collate all SAT Board resolutions and decisions made by the illegally constituted Board and nullify them, and if required, table the resolutions and decisions once the SAT Board is properly composed.

Minister Patricia de Lille has an opportunity to clean up this mess and the many other messes created by her predecessor.

Regards

Manny de Freitas MP
DA Shadow Minister of Tourism