Earlier this week, I announced that eight of the eleven previous SA Tourism Board members had resigned and that the board was therefore no longer functional.
I can today announce that I have gazetted the appointment of three persons to manage the affairs of SA Tourism Board until the appointment of a new Board.
The appointment of the three persons is being done in line with the Section 16 (3) (b) of the Tourism Act which states: “If the Board is dissolved in terms of paragraph (a) the Minister may defer the reconstitution of the Board and, in the notice by which the Minister has so dissolved the Board or by any subsequent notice in the Gazette, appoint one or more persons, on such conditions as the Minister may deem necessary, to manage the affairs of the Board until the appointment of the new Board.”
The dissolution of the previous SA Tourism Board was also published in the Government Gazette today, 21 April 2023. It must be noted that the gazette erroneously states that I have appointed a Chairperson, I have not appointed a Chairperson and the gazette will be corrected accordingly.
I am pleased to announce the three appointees as follows:
1. Ms Kholeka Zama - a qualified Chartered Accountant who has worked in finance, audit and governance roles and has served as a Chief Financial Officer at several entities.
Ms Zarma has a vast array of experience in the finance, auditing and governance fields at various entities including the Digital Frontiers NPC, British American Tobacco SA (Pty) Ltd and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, a conservation agency with a considerable tourism portfolio.
She has a B Compt. Hons (CTA) degree from Unisa and a B Com Accounting degree from Wits University.
2. Mr Tim Harris is a tourism and economic promotion specialist, with twenty years global experience in destination marketing, economic policy, investment promotion and governance.
He was previously the CEO of Wesgro, a Tourism, Trade & InvestmentPromotion agency.
Harris has a Bachelor of Commerce Masters in Economics, a Bachelor of Commerce Honours in Economics and a Bachelor of Arts – Majors: Economics & English Literature from the University of Cape Town (UCT).
Harris is also an Associate Professor of Practice at Johannesburg Business School and a Senior Advisor to the Harambe Entrepreneur Alliance, a leading network of
entrepreneurs on the African continent.
3. Mr Vincent Zwelibanzi Mntambo has a law degree from the University of the North West and a Masters in Law from Yale University and has held various administrative and management positions at FIAT (SA) and later as Faculty Officer at University of the North West. He also served as the first Director General of the Gauteng Provincial Government.
Mntambo also served as the Director of the Independent Mediation Service of South Africa (IMSSA), an NGO which specialised in the resolution of industrial conflict.
The appointment of the three persons stems from developments over the past two weeks where on 6 April 2023, I wrote a letter to the then chairperson of the SA Tourism Board, Dr Thozamile Botha asking for representation on why I should not dissolve the Board in terms of my powers under the Tourism Act which subsequently resulted in my decision to dissolve the board.
I wish the appointed members well in their work and look forward to working with them and the SA Tourism Executive to stabilize the entity and pursue our objective growing inclusive tourism in South Africa.
The process will also soon begin to advertise for and appoint a new SA Tourism Board in reasonable time.
Ends/
Issued by:
Zara Nicholson
Media Liaison Officer
Cell: +27 (0) 79 416 5996
Email: znicholson@tourism.gov.za