The Portfolio Committee on Tourism convened yesterday to receive critical briefings from the Tourism Transformation Council regarding its efforts to advance transformation within the tourism sector, and from South African Tourism (SAT) concerning its active contracts and challenges. However, the meeting was marked by the notable absence of the Minister of Tourism, Patricia de Lille, who submitted a letter of apology to the committee. This absence prompted significant concern among committee members, as it was highlighted that the Minister has not attended portfolio committee meetings since September 2.

Ms Ronalda Nomalunga, Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Tourism, expressed the committee's strong dissatisfaction with the Minister's persistent non-attendance. She stated that the committee intends to formally notify the Speaker of the National Assembly about the Minister's absence, emphasizing the imperative for the Minister to be present at these meetings to adequately respond to questions posed by committee members. The committee's ability to effectively engage with SAT was also hampered, as they only received the entity's presentation shortly before the meeting, leaving insufficient time for members to thoroughly familiarize themselves with its contents. Adding to the challenge, the Deputy Minister, who accompanied SAT, was unable to provide the requested information, as she does not hold direct responsibility for the entity.

Furthermore, the committee is aggrieved by the Minister's failure to provide information that she had previously presented in the public domain during the meeting of September 2, 2025. This omission occurred despite numerous requests from the committee. This lack of responsiveness, coupled with her office's delays in submitting presentations on time and her continuous absence from meetings addressing crucial governance issues at South African Tourism, renders the committee's oversight work ineffective. The committee underscored the unacceptable disparity where the Department of Tourism consistently receives clean audits, while South African Tourism continues to report negative audit outcomes. Given that South African Tourism accounts for over 50 percent of the budget allocated to the Tourism Vote, the committee views clean audits by the Department of Tourism as meaningless if the Minister neglects to address persistent governance issues and instances of malfeasance within the entity.