Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille skipped Parliament’s showdown over SA Tourism’s third consecutive qualified audit on Tuesday, prompting MPs to accuse her of helping destabilise and destroy the entity.
De Lille sent an apology, saying she had an appointment with an ophthalmologist.
But MPs were far from impressed.
The committee was grappling with SA Tourism’s latest qualified audit and the instability that has plagued its board and senior management.
ANC MP Kerileng Christina Tlhong said the minister’s absence was “very concerning”, particularly because De Lille had been highly visible on social media and other platforms in recent weeks.
“We do acknowledge the apology of the minister and the reasons behind the apology however I find it very concerning that we would come to such a meeting and the minister is not here,” Tlhong said.
DA MP Haseena Ismail was equally critical.
“It’s very concerning that the minister did not prioritise attending today’s meeting, especially since we are discussing such important matters with regard to the performance of both the department and SAT,” she said.
Ismail said MPs needed answers from the executive.
“We really need responses, especially from the executive,” she said.
She warned that the committee could not simply blame one board after another while the executive failed to take responsibility for fixing the entity.
“We cannot be blaming one board after another when the executive is not here to take leadership to ensure that we’re fixing this,” Ismail said.
DA MP Elmarie Linde said De Lille had to account.
“The DA therefore calls on the minister to account fully for these failures,” she said.
ANC MP Livhu Ligaraba directly questioned the consequences of De Lille’s repeated decisions involving the SA Tourism board.
She said she wanted De Lille in the meeting to explain “the consequences of repeated decisions to appoint, change and dissolve boards, and the impact that such instability has had on the entity.”
“It’s unfortunate and unacceptable,” Ligaraba said.
She also accused the minister’s office of attempting to reshape the parliamentary record after previous meetings.
“After this meeting, we don’t want to receive letters from the minister’s office seeking to rewrite or correct the committee minutes,” she said.
“Concerns must be addressed through the proper parliamentary processes and reflect transparency in the record.”
Ligaraba said the committee had previously received “numerous letters” attempting to revisit issues raised during meetings.
“We must protect the integrity and the independence of this committee,” she said.
But ANC MP Sello Meshack Maeco delivered the most damning assessment of De Lille’s role in SA Tourism’s troubles.
He said the committee accepted the apology but was “extremely dissatisfied” with the minister’s absence.
He said the Auditor-General had identified instability in the board and senior management as a major factor behind SA Tourism’s qualified audit.
That instability, he said, could not simply be blamed on circumstances beyond the minister’s control.
“That instability was not an act of God. The minister is also responsible, because she dissolved this board on three occasions, and again recently, after the suspension of the CEO. By virtue of dissolving this board, you are bringing instability, and the minister was obviously destabilising the entity,” he said.
Maeco warned that the newly appointed board should not face the same fate.
“I hope that this board that is recently appointed will be the last board to be dissolved unnecessarily,” he said.
He called on the committee chairperson to summon De Lille to Parliament within seven days.
“She must appear within seven days to table the executive action plan on how she’s going to address these AG recommendations and the red flags,” Maeco said.
“Without that, apologies become a tactic to avoid accountability.”
EFF MP Reneiloe Mashabela went even further, accusing De Lille of protecting suspended SA Tourism CEO Nombulelo Guliwe at the expense of the entity.
“There must be consequences, and the minister must commit to it, because the minister’s protection of the suspended CEO is destroying the whole South African Tourism,” Mashabela said.
The committee chairperson, Ronalda Schivonne Nalumango, said MPs had done their part but that SA Tourism’s executive leadership had failed to deliver.
“At this committee, we did our job. However, the executive and the accounting officers and the board and SA Tourism dropped the ball,” Nalumango said.
“As a committee, we demand full accountability, and the minister, with the new board at SA Tourism, must do their job.”
Deputy Tourism Minister Makhotso Sotyu attended the meeting but declined to make a political assessment.
“I won’t have any political statement, because the issue here is what has been presented to us as a department, and to yourselves as a portfolio committee,” Sotyu said.
De Lille’s handling of SA Tourism’s governance has previously attracted parliamentary scrutiny.
She dissolved the SA Tourism board in April 2023 and again in August 2025, while in September 2024 she removed its chairperson and deputy chairperson over concerns about board meeting costs.
De Lille has previously maintained that her actions were lawful.
She has also denied protecting Guliwe, who remains suspended.
The political fallout now comes as SA Tourism confronts yet another qualified audit and MPs question whether repeated interventions by the minister have contributed to the instability they say is undermining the entity.
For Maeco, the problem is no longer simply another bad audit. It is whether the minister will finally be forced to answer for the consequences of decisions that MPs say have repeatedly destabilised SA Tourism.
