Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille has denied that she is deliberately delaying court proceedings in the case against her by former members of the SA Tourism Board controversially dissolved in August last year.
Seven of the 10 former Board members filed joint legal action against De Lille in the North Gauteng High Court in September, arguing that her decision to dissolve the Board was unlawful.
The ongoing legal challenge, which was struck off the urgent roll in October, is currently tied up in procedures to have the three remaining former Board members join the case. De Lille has opposed the joinder application and the former Board members allege she has failed to submit answering papers related to the merits of the original case – actions the applicants have described as a “deliberate strategy to obstruct and prolong the matter”.
“The consequence is that the case drags on at mounting personal expense to the seven of us who are challenging what we believe to be an irrational and unlawful dissolution of a Board that was fulfilling its fiduciary duties. In contrast, the Minister appears to have unrestricted access to public funds to pursue interlocutory skirmishes, further entrenching the imbalance in resources,” the applicants said in a statement.
De Lille’s Spokesperson Aldrin Sampear confirmed the Minister opposed the joinder application on “various grounds” provided by senior counsel.
“The Minister’s answering papers in the review application, which is proceeding in the normal course, not on an urgent basis, is to be filed upon the Minister’s return from official government business together with an application for condonation for the late filing thereof,” he said.
According to Sampear, De Lille “remains committed to seeing the case through to its conclusion”.
The applicants are running a crowdfunding campaign to raise R1.2 million (US$75 200) to fund their case.
Several members of the inbound tourism sector, including tourism associations such as the TBCSA and SATSA, have repeatedly called for the former Board’s reinstatement.
However, the process of appointing a new permanent Board is already underway. On January 27, De Lille said over 200 nominations were received.
“Now, with the Department of Tourism, we are going to process all of those applications and then take names for recommendation to Cabinet,” she said.
