In a recent meeting held on 14 June 2023, the Portfolio Committee on Tourism expressed its satisfaction with the updates provided by the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA) and South African Tourism (SAT) on their respective progress and performance.
The DBSA, appointed by the Department of Tourism as its implementing agent, has been working diligently on the implementation of various failed tourism infrastructure projects. Mr Chuene Ramphele, a representative from DBSA, briefed the committee on the scope of their agreement with the Department of Tourism. This includes assisting the department to establish a Project Support Unit (PSU) to implement the tourism infrastructure programme, assisting with the conditional assessments and planning for allocated tourism infrastructure, building and refurbishing identified tourism facilities, and supporting the department to implement a comprehensive facilities maintenance programme.
The projects under the DBSA’s purview include local community museums, maintenance and beautification of provincial state-owned attractions, Indi-Atlantic Route (coastal and marine tourism initiatives), and community projects. The DBSA has committed to spending an accumulated amount of R5.1 million for the 2023/2024 financial year on these projects.
The committee also welcomed the clarity provided by the DBSA on the delays experienced in some projects. These delays were attributed to a National Treasury moratorium, which affected procurement timelines, and the unexpected dilapidation of some facilities, which required more work than initially anticipated.
On the other hand, SAT’s CEO, Ms Nomasonto Ndlovu, reported that performance in quarter one on various programmes was 65% and increased to 71% in quarter two. These programmes included corporate support, business enablement, leisure tourism marketing, business events, and tourist experience. SAT has several plans in place to overcome underperformance, including finalising and approving the entity’s three-year integrated destination brand and marketing strategy by October 2022.
The Minister of Tourism, Ms Patricia de Lille, assured the committee that the involvement of townships, small towns, and villages in tourism is being prioritised. She also mentioned the department’s 2018 safety tourism strategy and plans to convene a quarterly safety forum. The department has allocated a budget of R174.5 million for tourism monitors, who will be deployed to hotspot areas after obtaining an NQ3 level qualification certificate.
However, the committee expressed concerns about SAT’s three-member interim board and its poor attendance at meetings. The committee also emphasised that the vacant positions at the executive level of South African Tourism should be filled with immediate effect. The Minister responded by saying that she had recently held a meeting with the board where it was decided that the vacancies should be filled.
The committee noted that more than R586 million has already been transferred to SAT, amounting to 44% of its total appropriation. The committee then emphasised to the Director-General, Mr Victor Tharage, and the acting CEO, Ms Nomasonto Ndlovu, that no further funds will be transferred to SAT until three conditions imposed by the committee in the conditional appropriation have been met.
The Chairperson warned the Director-General that a transfer without meeting these conditions will amount to a criminal offence on his part. The conditions include revising the targets in SAT’s annual performance plan, filling vacancies at the executive level, and reversing the delegation of authority by the Board in a letter of 27 April 2023 and giving it back to the executives at SAT.
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