Tottenham deal resignations: Minister apparently acted illegally

21 February 2023

At the Tourism Portfolio Committee today, it was revealed that the three South African Tourism Board members that replaced those who recently resigned have been irregularly appointed by the Minister, Lindiwe Sisulu.

By her own admission, the three resignations were submitted at the beginning of February on a Wednesday and she replaced the resigned Board members four days later on the Saturday.

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.

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.

Three SAT Board members resigned after the proposed Tottenham Hotspur sponsorship deal was made public. The three members that resigned were Enver Duminy, Ravi Nadasen and Rosemary Anderson.

The Minister claims that she needed to urgently replace the 3 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.

I have requested that the Portfolio Committee push ahead with tabling a report in the National Assembly and that an inquiry be launched as agreed at previous Portfolio Committee meetings.

Issued by Manny de Freitas, DA Shadow Minister of Tourism, 21 February 2021