- DA demands a performance review over TEF failures.
- Only R125m of R466m TEF funds disbursed due to poor oversight.
- DA calls for audit, transparency, and policy overhaul in tourism.
Please find attached a soundbite by Haseena Ismail MP.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) is demanding a formal performance review of Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille and the Department of Tourism’s handling of the Tourism Equity Fund (TEF). This review must be concluded and tabled before Parliament by no later than 31 July 2025.
The TEF, once touted as a flagship vehicle to drive transformation in the tourism sector, is now in crisis. What was meant to support youth-owned, rural, and township tourism enterprises has instead left these very businesses in limbo — excluded, misinformed, and misled. The damage is profound: jobs have been lost, entrepreneurs have been denied critical funding, and communities have been robbed of the growth opportunities they were promised.
Even the Minister herself admitted as much in yesterday’s meeting of the Portfolio Committee on Tourism, where a scheduled progress update on the TEF turned into an open admission of failure, mismanagement, and a department that has completely lost control of its own programme.
Minister de Lille confirmed that the Department only realised late in the 2024/25 financial year that the implementing agent, SEFA (now SEFDA), had unilaterally changed the timeline for disbursing funds, in clear violation of the signed agreement.
As a result, just R125 million of the R466 million allocated has been disbursed, with most applicants — primarily from historically disadvantaged backgrounds — still stuck in limbo, waiting for feedback, support, or clarity.
This was never the promise. The TEF was supposed to enable inclusive growth and support small tourism enterprises in underserved areas. Instead, it has become a textbook example of how poor contract management and weak political leadership can derail transformation.
Shockingly, six months into the new financial year, the Department is still waiting for a close-out report from SEFA. Minister de Lille had to publicly appeal for the report during the meeting — an unprecedented and humiliating admission of just how far accountability has collapsed.
The Minister also confirmed that:
- The Department nearly forfeited the unspent TEF funds to National Treasury and had to scramble to retain them;
- There has been a total failure of contract oversight, enabling SEFA to operate without consequences;
- SEFA may have already received a sizeable management fee despite failing to meet its obligations.
The DA has opposed the TEF from its inception. Initiatives like the Tourism Transformation Fund and Equity Funds have consistently failed to uplift marginalised communities or grow inclusive businesses. Instead of using broad-based development metrics, the Department of Tourism insists on measuring success solely through the narrow and outdated Tourism B-BBEE Sector Code — a lens that ignores the lived experiences of struggling township entrepreneurs, rural communities, and informal operators.
We in the DA are calling for a complete overhaul of government transformation policy in tourism and beyond. Our vision is rooted in inclusive growth, transparent governance, job creation, and alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In this light, we reiterate our position that while we have always opposed the TEF in principle, we still demand that it be properly administered — because this is public money, and South Africans deserve accountability.
The DA is therefore renewing and strengthening its call for:
- A full, independent audit of all TEF approvals, disbursements, and contract compliance — including a breakdown of all management fees paid to SEFA and what was delivered in return;
- The immediate public release of the Service Level Agreement (SLA) between the Department and SEFA;
- The immediate tabling of the SEFA close-out report to allow for the appointment of a new, competent implementing agent; and
- A formal performance review of Minister de Lille and the Department’s executive leadership over their handling of the TEF since 2023, including the baffling decision to retain SEFA despite sustained non-performance.
The time for excuses is over. The public — and especially those entrepreneurs and communities who were meant to benefit from the TEF — deserve answers, transparency, and meaningful reform.