Please find attached a soundbite by Manny de Freitas MP.
The announcement by the Board of South African Tourism (SAT) that they had withdrawn Nomasonto Ndlovu from her position as SAT Acting CEO but that she retains her position as Chief Operation Officer is nothing more than smoke and mirrors.
The latest action by the SAT board is an attempt to create the perception that they are dealing with corruption within SAT when in reality they are not only not tackling corruption, but they are rewarding persons who are allegedly implicated in malfeasance.
This matter is compounded by the fact that whistleblowers have complained about these allegations and that the SAT’s own investigation found that Ndlovu had indeed allegedly been implicated in corruption relating to the FIFA World Cup last year.
In addition, I provided Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille with a 2017 KPMG report that names Ndlovu throughout the report about a failed music festival that was to take place in Tshwane where millions were wasted and unaccounted for. The Minister and the SAT Board have chosen to ignore this report.
In the face of all this information, the SAT board has found it fit to retain Ndlovu in a critical position.
I will therefore submit additional questions for written reply to the Minister on this matter and will also be writing to her enquiring why Ndlovu is being retained in the face of all these allegations.
While all this is taking place, it is again the tourism industry that is losing out while millions are being lost instead of going into the tourism and travel sector where it is needed the most.