By REGINALD KANYANE
5 May 2026 – The Portfolio Committee on Tourism today considered Budget Vote 38: Tourism and the 2026/27 annual performance plans (APPs) of the Department of Tourism and South African Tourism (SA Tourism), which were tabled on 31 March 2027. The committee noted South Africa’s strong tourism recovery in 2025 with 10.5 million international arrivals, up 17.7% from 2024 and 2.6% above 2019 pre-Covid levels, according to Statistics SA.
The Chairperson of the Committee, Ronalda Nalumango said the committee noted that the recovery is led by regional African travel, which account for 75.2% of arrivals, supported by improved air access, visa reforms and targeted marketing. Nalumango said the tourism sector supports 1.88 million direct and indirect jobs, confirming tourism as a major employment driver.
“Having reviewed the 2025–2030 strategic plans and 2026/27 APPs, the committee found the documents lacking in critical areas. It recommended that the Minister submit addendums addressing full sector recovery, governance, transformation and geographic spread. With 54% of Vote 38 transferred to SA Tourism, governance and financial performance at the entity remain key oversight concerns.
“The committee is concerned that outdated strategies, such as National Heritage and Cultural Tourism Strategy 2013, Domestic Tourism Growth Strategy 2012–2020, Rural Tourism Strategy 2012, Service Excellence Strategy 2016 and the Climate Change Plan 2010 are not listed for review, despite being slated for three- to five-year reviews,” she said.
Nalumango further said the committee noted that Budget Vote 38 is R2.54bn and that SA Tourism gets R1.278bn, whilst the budget remains inadequate given tourism’s 10% GDP contribution. She added that the committee also raised concerns about accountability at the SA Tourism Board and that the Board did not appear for the APP presentation.
“The committee also noted that the department has not provided clarity on the tabling of the Tourism Amendment Bill. Furthermore, there are no mechanisms shown for the high-performance culture or audit improvement, after the qualified audit with material irregularity.
“The committee further noted that jobs created are often short-term Extended Public Works Programme roles, with no tracking to permanent employment. In addition, communities in villages, towns and small dorpies are not adequately involved,” said Nalumango.
She said the committee noted that safety initiatives are limited to mainstream tourist sites and not townships. Nalumango said in addition, false international narratives about things like “white genocide” have the potential to harm tourism and the department has no clear campaign to counteract this false narrative.
“It also noted that tourism monitors are not deployed to villages, townships and small dorpies. The committee also noted that there is no resilience strategy for off-peak tourism or shocks like geopolitical instability and that the APP lacks contingency plans.
“There are also no line-item budgets or evaluations showing conversion from campaigns to bookings/spend, which will provide an indication on the outcomes of campaigns. In terms of infrastructure projects, the committee noted that project delays, cost overruns, DBSA performance issues and lack of consequence management have been reported,” she said.
Nalumango said going forward, the committee recommends the Minister to engage with the Minister of Finance for a budget commensurate with the sector’s GDP/job contribution. She said the committee also recommended that the department table the Tourism Amendment Bill in 2026/27.
“The Minister is also encouraged to ensure that the department and SA Tourism submit APP addendums addressing the gaps and conduct impact assessments of all 2026/27 programmes. The department must also improve governance, financial management and reporting.
“More importantly, the Minister must strengthen oversight of the SA Tourism Board and appoint a permanent Board. As previously indicated the department must also include the Tourism Growth Partnership Plan Dashboard in quarterly reports,” said Nalumango.
She said the committee also recommended SA Tourism to develop a dashboard for a tourism route development marketing plan and intensify work in villages, townships and small towns. Nalumango said importantly, the department must publish the Tourism Transformation Fund beneficiaries list.
“The committee views the Vote 38 budget as insufficient for the mandate, given tourism’s economic role. Governance failures at SA Tourism require urgent action to restore financial credibility. While the 2026/27 APPs are comprehensive, they lack impact measurement and value-for-money mechanisms,” she said.
The Guardian 