Minister of Tourism Patricia de Lille. (Photo: Gallo Images / Luba Lesolle) 
In Parliament on Tuesday, 2 September, under-fire Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille called on critics who claim she’s protecting corruption to submit evidence to the police.
This is in relation to the unfolding saga around De Lille’s earlier dissolution of the SA Tourism board.
The veteran politician, members of the dissolved board and departmental officials appeared before Parliament’s tourism oversight committee to get to the heart of the issue, which has raised concerns about the sector.
De Lille dissolved the board on 19 August 2025 with immediate effect, citing “good cause” under section 16 of the Tourism Act.
She alleged it exceeded its powers by appointing a board member to carry out some of the functions of the previous chairperson and contravened its own charter by holding a special board meeting that the chairperson did not convene.
Read more: SA Tourism board to fight De Lille’s dissolution amid legality, governance storm
Writing in Daily Maverick, Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse head Wayne Duvenage described the dissolution of the board as “not just reckless, it’s a symptom of the rot that continues to spread through our institutions”.
Before it was dissolved the board suspended former CEO Nombulelo Guliwe for alleged misconduct. But De Lille has claimed the decision was unlawful, since “the board in its current form is not properly constituted to make such a resolution”.
The implicated board chairperson, Professor Gregory Davids, was not in Parliament on Tuesday due to what was termed “work obligations”, which left several MPs unhappy.
Several times during the meeting, De Lille said she had taken an oath as a minister to uphold good governance, including protecting the public purse. She noted that she was responsible for cancelling SA Tourism’s proposed R1-billion sponsorship deal with Tottenham Hotspur.
Read more: Tottenham Hotspur sponsorship deal ‘unlawful and invalid’ – Tourism minister Patricia De Lille
Making introductory remarks, committee chairperson Ronalda Nalumango (ANC) said the meeting had been called to get to the bottom of the unfolding situation.
Nalumango said De Lille’s actions “seem to be protecting corruption” at SA Tourism, which is mandated to promote the country internationally.
De Lille responded: “I want to say, if anybody’s got any evidence that I’m protecting corruption, I would advise to take the evidence to the Hawks or to the police.”
Several times she claimed that she had raised issues around questionable decisions taken by the board, which could potentially have legal risks. These included handling cases within the entity.
As the meeting got under way, several issues began to emerge: De Lille’s accusations against the board for potential overreach, allegations by the dissolved board of nonperformance of individuals, including former CEO Guliwe, and De Lille’s alleged overreach by going directly to SA Tourism executives instead of via the board.
As one of the dissolved board members, Oupa Pilane, put it: “We were obstructionists.
“The minister wants to run [SA Tourism].”
De Lille said “there’s absolutely no crisis” at SA Tourism and told the committee she had appointed six individuals to handle the affairs of the board until a new board was appointed.
All this is taking place as South Africa marks Tourism Month in September.
These claims and counterclaims will be unpacked and responded to during the marathon meeting in Parliament, which is expected to continue until 5pm. DM