Johannesburg - SA Tourism CEO Thulani Nzima resigned more than a month ago, but the body has failed to announce his sudden departure and has so far been unwilling to explain the exact reason for his resignation.
For almost two weeks, The Star has requested an interview with current acting SA Tourism board chairwoman Tanya Abrahamse.
When she eventually responded, Abrahamse said it was the Christmas season that prevented an announcement of Nzima’s departure. He handed in his resignation around December 7.
She believed the busy festive season may have also been the reason why no one had reported on the resignation.
She said Nzima’s departure had been an amicable one, and that SA Tourism had felt it “was time for him to move on”.
She did not, however, provide any further details on his decision to leave.
Nzima declined to speak about his resignation, saying it would be up to SA Tourism to disclose the reasons.
“I’m not at liberty to say” he said, though he was surprised that there had been no announcement about his departure. Nzima said he was weighing up his options.
Meanwhile, Abrahamse said chief operating officer Sthembiso Dlamini would remain as acting chief executive until the position was filled.
In July 2014, Frank Kilbourn, the chair of the board, resigned. In September that year, Jan Hutton resigned from her position as chief marketing officer.
In March 2015, Thembi Kunene, the chief quality assurance officer for the organisation’s Tourism Grading Council, also resigned.
The Star