Cape Town – Acting CEO of South African Tourism (SAT) Themba Khumalo has resigned, reports say.
Khumalo reportedly handed his resignation to the new interim SA Tourism board on Friday after four years in the organisation.
Reports said that he will be pursuing a new career opportunity after he accepted an international job offer.
NEWS UPDATES: Acting CEO of Tourism South Africa Themba Khumalo.
Khumalo handed his letter of resignation to the board of the troubled agency on Friday. He will be pursuing a new career opportunity with an American-based international firm. He served as chief marketing officer… pic.twitter.com/7RGpPhPlkn
— Thulani Ndaba (@tndaba) May 6, 2023
According to EWN, his resignation was effective immediately.
His resignation followed the cancellation of the controversial R1 billion Tottenham Hotspur sponsorship deal.
City Press reported that Khumalo had publicly defended the proposal, as a way to attract tourists to South Africa.
At the time, Khumalo said South Africans should not regard the sponsorship as wasteful expenditure, the report said.
“The money invested in tourism isn’t the same money required for energy. It’s not the same amount of money that’s required to fix potholes. There are other departments which are dedicated to that and are given that mandate by legislation,” the report quoted Khumalo as saying.
Khumalo’s departure also came against the backdrop of strained relations in the agency which saw an exodus of board members last month. Khumalo wrote a scathing report last month to Tourism Minister Patricia De Lille asking that she dissolve the board because of “strained” relations between it and management, Times Live reported.
This led to some board members resigning and De Lille appointing new members and a new acting chairperson, Tim Harris, which led to a clash with parliament’s portfolio committee on tourism this week.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
