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Zoe Bettison MP

Minister for Tourism

Minister for Multicultural Affairs

Member for Ramsay

Contact (08) 8429 3094 [email protected]

Postal address GPO Box 2343 Adelaide  SA  5001

Zoe is the Minister for Tourism and Multicultural Affairs in the South Australian Malinauskas Labor Government.

She is focused on building back the visitor economy from the uncertainty and impacts of COVID-19, with attention on South Australia's brand pillars of ‘natural therapy’, ‘accessible provenance’, ‘wildlife encounters’, ‘boutique capital’ and ‘loves a party’.

From 2018-2022, Zoe held the role of Shadow Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment.

Zoe became a Minister in 2014 and worked progressing the South Australian Government’s reform agenda on ageing, multicultural affairs, social housing and youth. During her time as Minister, she made energy bills cheaper for concession-holders, introduced the Cost of Living Concession, tripled the budget for multicultural affairs and gave people living in Retirement Villages a stronger voice.

Zoe was elected to the South Australian Parliament as the Member for Ramsay in 2012. She has a longstanding interest in education, training and business investment. Participation in the economy for all South Australians is a key driver for her interest in politics.

Born in Whyalla, Zoe lived in Gawler and Kapunda where she attended Kapunda High School. She now lives in Salisbury with her husband and son.

She has a BA from Flinders University and a MBA from the University of Adelaide.

Prior to her election Zoe worked for an iconic Australian tourism operator and was a director of a public affairs company.

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The Hon Peter Malinauskas MP is the 47th Premier of South Australia.

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Minister de Lille Welcomes Cabinet's approval of SA Tourism CEO and Board Appointments

Y Y esterday, on 28 February 2024, Cabinet approved the appointment of a full SA Tourism Board and the appointment of the CEO of SA Tourism.

We are therefore pleased to announce Ms Nombulelo Guliwe as the CEO of SA Tourism for a period of five years.

SA Tourism is a public entity under the Department of Tourism, established in terms of the Tourism Act of 2014. The mandate of SA Tourism as the official marketing agency, is to market South Africa as a domestic and international tourist destination.

The business and affairs of SA Tourism are managed by the CEO and the SA Tourism Board.

The position of CEO of SA Tourism became vacant in May 2021 and since then, five officials have acted in the position of CEO and this has had an impact on the management and stability within the entity.

The SA Tourism Board initiated a recruitment process in July 2023 to appoint a CEO guided by the provisions of the Tourism Act. The position was advertised from 17 September 2023 until 1 October 2023.

Following the assessments, the SA Tourism Board identified Ms Nombulelo Guliwe as the preferred candidate.

Minister de Lille took the recommendation to Cabinet this week for Cabinet’s concurrence for the appointment of Ms Guliwe as CEO to ensure that SA Tourism’s executive leadership is strengthened by appointing a suitably qualified CEO to lead the entity to achieve its mandate as prescribed in the Tourism Act of 2014.

Ms Guliwe is an experienced finance professional with extensive experience in operations and strategic financial management, accounting and auditing. She is a Chartered Accountant and has a Bachelor of Commerce and Honours Degree.

“I wish Ms Guliwe well in her new position and look forward to continue working with her as we amplify our marketing efforts to attract more visitors from all over the world to South Africa,” Minister de Lille said.

SA Tourism Board Appointments

In early 2023, the Tottenham Hotspur FC marketing proposal and other matters led to the mass resignation of previous board members.

On 6 April 2023, Minister de Lille wrote a letter to the then chairperson of the SA Tourism Board, Dr Thozamile Botha asking for representation as to why the Minister should not dissolve the Board in terms of the Minister’s powers under the Tourism Act.

The Minister’s letter outlined a number of serious concerns, such as the conduct of the Board in respect of the Tottenham Hotspur sponsorship matter; the composition of the Board and whether the members have the necessary knowledge, experience or qualifications as required by section 13 of the Tourism Act; and certain serious allegations raised by the then Acting CEO of SA Tourism, Mr Themba Khumalo regarding the lack of a proper functioning Board.

Following legal advice, the Minister found that good cause exists to dissolve the Board and this was done officially through the Government Gazette on Friday 21 April 2023.

Persons were appointed by Minister de Lille in terms of the Tourism Act to manage the affairs of Board until the appointment of a new full Board. This was gazetted in May 2023.

An advertisement was published for nominations on 6 June 2023 for persons to serve on the SA Tourism Board and a recruitment process followed over a few months in 2023. The recruitment process was finalised and a shortlist of candidates was put forward for the appointment of persons to serve on the SA Tourism Board.

Nominations were screened and a selection committee shortlisted 26 candidates.

The selection committee was guided by terms of reference and considered the following when assessing candidates:

· Knowledge, experience and qualifications relating to the function of the Board as outlined in the Tourism Act of 2014

· Diverse exposure in tourism management and development, marketing, legal, finance and governance

· Capacity to perform and to provide the necessary fiduciary duties as a board member

· Broad representability of race, gender, youth, disability and geographic spread of the country

The Minister convened an interview panel consisting of Minister de Lille, a deputy minister and tourism industry leaders.

Based on the screening and interviewing process, the Minister presented 10 persons and one departmental representative to serve on the SA Tourism Board to Cabinet for Cabinet’s consideration.

Cabinet concurred with the appointments of the following person to serve on the SA Tourism Board:

1. Ms Makhosazana Khanyile (Chairperson)

2. Adv. Lizelle Dominique Jordaan (Deputy Chairperson)

3. Dr Gregory J. Davids

4. Mr Ikaneng Ephraim Pilane

5. Prof Motlhago Stella Bavuma

6. Ms Nqabomzi Haya

7. Mr Rajesh Mahabeer

8. Mr Ayanda V. Mazibuko

9. Ms Maija de Rijk-Uys

10. Dr Mzolisi Michael Toni

11. Ms Uveshnee Pillay as the Department representative

The new SA Tourism Board consists of six females and five males with a range of experience and qualifications including Masters degrees, law degrees, PhDs and post graduate degrees.

The appointments will become official and the term of the new SA Tourism Board will start once Minister de Lille officially gazettes the appointments in the coming days.

“I wish to thank the outgoing SA Tourism Board for their time and commitment in helping me to turn things around at SA Tourism,” Minister de Lille said.

Minister de Lille added: “I wish the new SA Tourism CEO and new SA Tourism Board members all the best in the endeavours and impress upon them the important fiduciary duties they have to serve SA Tourism, an entity of the Department, with diligence and commitment”.

The Minister looks forward to working with the new leadership to continue marketing South Africa as a world class tourist destination and to grow tourism arrivals and the country’s tourism offering. This will in turn support the objectives of the Tourism Sector Master Plan and the country’s Economic Reconstruction and Recovery plan.

For Media Enquiries:

Zara Nicholson

Media Liaison Officer – Office of the Minister of Tourism

Cell: +27 (0) 79 416 5996 Email: [email protected]

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Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment

Minister for Finance

Senator the Hon Simon Birmingham

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Biography of senator the hon simon birmingham.

Leader of the Government in the Senate

Senator for South Australia

Simon Birmingham was appointed as Minister for Finance in October 2020, following his appointment as Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment in August 2018.

Simon also holds the responsibilities of Leader of the Government in the Senate as well as Special Minister of State, having previously served as the Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate.

Simon grew up near Gawler in Adelaide’s north on his family’s small horse agistment property and was educated at local schools before going on to study at the University of Adelaide where he completed a Masters of Business Administration.

Prior to entering the Senate, Simon worked for a number of industry bodies, establishing particular experience in the wine, tourism and hospitality sectors – industries that are critical to South Australia’s prosperity.

After less than three years in the Senate Simon was appointed to the Shadow Ministry, serving as Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Murray-Darling Basin and the Environment until the 2013 election.

Following the change of government in 2013 Simon served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Environment, with responsibility for water policy, including the Murray-Darling Basin, National Parks and the Bureau of Meteorology. In 2014 Simon was appointed to serve as the Assistant Minister for Education and Training in the Abbott Ministry, with specific responsibility for vocational education, apprenticeships, training and skills. In September 2015 he was appointed to position of Minister for Education and Training in the Turnbull government. In February 2018 he was appointed Manager of Government Business in the Senate. In August 2018 Simon was appointed as Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment and Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate.

Simon is married to Courtney and together they have two young daughters, Matilda and Amelia. Simon is an active advocate for mental health and ovarian cancer and is a proud Adelaide Crows fan.

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Nombulelo Guliwe to lead SA Tourism as CEO for five-year term

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The position of CEO of SA Tourism became vacant in May 2021 and since then, five officials have acted in the position of CEO, which has had an impact on the management and stability within the entity.

The SA Tourism Board initiated a recruitment process in July 2023 to appoint a CEO guided by the provisions of the Tourism Act. The position was advertised from 17 September 2023 until 1 October 2023.

Following the assessments, the SA Tourism board identified Guliwe as the preferred candidate.

Minister de Lille took the recommendation to Cabinet for Cabinet’s concurrence for Guliwe's appointment as CEO to ensure that SA Tourism’s executive leadership is strengthened by appointing a suitably qualified CEO to lead the entity to achieve its mandate as prescribed in the Tourism Act of 2014.

Guliwem, an experienced finance professional with extensive experience in operations and strategic financial management, accounting and auditing, is a chartered accountant and has a Bachelor of Commerce and Honours Degree.

“I wish Ms Guliwe well in her new position and look forward to continue working with her as we amplify our marketing efforts to attract more visitors from all over the world to South Africa,” Minister de Lille said.

SA Tourism board appointments

In early 2023, the Tottenham Hotspur FC marketing proposal and other matters led to the mass resignation of previous board members.

On 6 April 2023, Minister de Lille wrote a letter to the then chairperson of the SA Tourism Board, Dr Thozamile Botha asking for representation as to why the Minister should not dissolve the Board in terms of the Minister’s powers under the Tourism Act.

Tottenham sponsorship deal unlawful and invalid - Minister

24 Mar 2023

The Minister’s letter outlined a number of serious concerns, such as the conduct of the Board in respect of the Tottenham Hotspur sponsorship matter; the composition of the Board and whether the members have the necessary knowledge, experience or qualifications as required by section 13 of the Tourism Act; and certain serious allegations raised by the then Acting CEO of SA Tourism, Mr Themba Khumalo regarding the lack of a proper functioning Board.

Following legal advice, the Minister found that good cause exists to dissolve the board and this was done officially through the Government Gazette on Friday, 21 April 2023.

Persons were appointed by Minister de Lille in terms of the Tourism Act to manage the affairs of Board until the appointment of a new full Board. This was gazetted in May 2023.

An advertisement was published for nominations on 6 June 2023 for persons to serve on the SA Tourism Board and a recruitment process followed over a few months in 2023. The recruitment process was finalised and a shortlist of candidates was put forward for the appointment of persons to serve on the SA Tourism Board.

Nominations were screened and a selection committee shortlisted 26 candidates.

• Knowledge, experience and qualifications relating to the function of the Board as outlined in the Tourism Act of 2014 • Diverse exposure in tourism management and development, marketing, legal, finance and governance • Capacity to perform and to provide the necessary fiduciary duties as a board member • Broad representability of race, gender, youth, disability and geographic spread of the country

The Minister convened an interview panel consisting of a deputy minister and tourism industry leaders.

Based on the screening and interviewing process, the Minister presented 10 persons and one departmental representative to serve on the SA Tourism Board to Cabinet for Cabinet’s consideration.

Cabinet concurred with the appointments of the following person to serve on the SA Tourism board:

• Makhosazana Khanyile (chairperson) • Advocate Lizelle Dominique Jordaan (deputy chairperson) • Dr Gregory J. Davids • Ikaneng Ephraim Pilane • Prof Motlhago Stella Bavuma • Nqabomzi Haya • Rajesh Mahabeer • Ayanda V. Mazibuko • Maija de Rijk-Uys • Dr Mzolisi Michael Toni • Uveshnee Pillay as the Department representative

The new SA Tourism board consists of six females and five males with a range of experience and qualifications including Masters degrees, law degrees, PhDs and post graduate degrees.

The appointments will become official and the term of the new SA Tourism Board will start once Minister de Lille officially gazettes the appointments in the coming days.

“I wish to thank the outgoing SA Tourism Board for their time and commitment in helping me to turn things around at SA Tourism,” Minister de Lille said.

Minister de Lille added: “I wish the new SA Tourism CEO and new SA Tourism Board members all the best in the endeavours and impress upon them the important fiduciary duties they have to serve SA Tourism, an entity of the Department, with diligence and commitment”.

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SATSA Welcomes Appointment of New SA Tourism Board and CEO under Minister Patricia De Lille’s Leadership

SATSA, the Voice of Inbound Tourism, welcomes the appointment of the new South African Tourism Board and CEO to give impetus to the organisation in delivering on its mandate of marketing South Africa as a preferred global tourist destination.

This new leadership phase marks a pivotal moment for inbound tourism to South Africa, says SATSA CEO David Frost, whocommended Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille and the former Interim SA Tourism Board chaired by Tim Harris on the appointment process, which has been collaborative and thorough.

Frost further thanked Minister de Lille and the Interim Board for their efforts in laying the groundwork for the unprecedented level of cooperation and dialogue between the private and public sector that has flourished under their stewardship to showcase the very best South Africa has to offer the world.

“We also look forward to working closely with Chairperson Makhosazana Khanyile , new CEO Nombulelo Guliwe and the rest of the skilled board to showcase the immense opportunities for tourism within South Africa. Our mutual goal is to substantially increase visitor numbers, spend and length of stay with a view to realising the Tourism sector’s overall contribution to the country’s economic growth and job creation. With strong leadership and an aligned strategy between private and public sector, we believe this can be achieved,” says Frost.

Among the new board appointees are Ikaneng (Oupa) Ephraim Pilane , also SATSA’s chairperson, and Maija de Rijk-Uys , MD of Go2Africa, a member of SATSA.

“Both Oupa and Maija bring a wealth of experience and insights from the tourism industry to their roles. This will be crucial as private sector works closely with South African Tourism to elevate the country’s profile on the global stage,” Frost adds. 

SATSA believes this newly appointed board and CEO, with its diversity and expertise, will take the entity from strength to strength as we grow the tourism industry to become an even greater contributor to South Africa’s GDP and employment. 

Reaffirming SATSA’s commitment to working closely with the newly appointed board and CEO, Frost concluded: “This is our chance to implement strategies that will drive sustainable growth, improve the visitor experience, and ensure that the benefits of tourism are widely distributed across our communities.  We wish them all the best as they get down to the task ahead.”

About SATSA

SATSA is the unified voice of the inbound tourism industry in Southern Africa and represents the private sector trade associations in five SADC countries. Our mission is to support the sustainable growth of travel and tourism to and within Southern Africa. For more information, visit satsa.com .

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WATCH | New regulations make it easier for foreigners to work in SA: Motsoaledi

The trusted employer scheme allows employers to more easily get visas.

Amendments to immigration regulations are important to make it easier for foreigners to obtain visas for tourism, business and work, and this will in turn promote investment in South Africa, said home affairs minister Aaron Motsoaledi on Tuesday.  

He made this remark during a media briefing in which he outlined proposed amendments to the regulations.

President Cyril Ramaphosa had in 2022 announced the country would be reviewing its visa regime to make this possible. Ramaphosa appointed Mavuso Msimang, a former director-general in the department of home affairs, to lead an operation aimed at reviewing the work visa system.    

Motsoaledi said Msimang's report made a number of recommendations and on February 8 the department published draft immigration regulations for public comment with a closing date of March 29.  

Motsoaledi said the regulations dealt with the introduction of the remote work visa, the introduction of the Trusted Employer Scheme, the introduction of the point-based system for general work visas and the frequent updating of the critical skills list — which was previously updated only every four years.

Motsoaledi said the remote work visa is for people who are employed in other countries but want to perform that work remotely while staying in South Africa.

“These will be people in IT, auditing, finance and any other job which allows you to work remotely. But the catch here is that none of them must earn an equivalent of less than R1m. The offer to them is that they do not have to pay tax for employment of six months.”

Motsoaledi said the introduction of the Trusted Employer Scheme (TES) for qualifying companies was a means to provide a flexible pathway for employers to obtain work visas expeditiously in line with best practices.

Don't target those who have legalised their stay in SA, Zim Exiles Forum tells Motsoaledi

“In this, the responsibility of collecting documents locally and globally is given to the prospective employer with the proviso that when a random check is done an employer will not be found to have committed misrepresentation.”  

Motsoaledi said this would enable the visa to be finalised within 20 days whereas before the scheme it was eight weeks.

“In other words, you are running your own game. The speed with which you will get people from other countries depends on how fast you collect that information to bring to home affairs.”

The TES became active from March 1. Out of the 108 companies that applied, 70 were successful and are now part of the scheme.

Motsoaledi said the criteria for participating in the TES include that the company must make an investment of R100m in the country and must have 100 or more employees, 60% of whom are South Africans. Priority is given to companies in the energy and infrastructure sectors.  

Motsoaledi said previously that the frequency of gazetting changes to the critical skills list demanded by the Immigration Act was four years.

“The new thing in the amended regulations is that we have changed the frequency from four years to when it is necessary or when the need arises.”

He said the list was updated twice in 2023. The first was in February with reference to doctors, and the second was in September regarding veterinary services.  

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Ramaphosa, malema spend easter sunday at zcc in moria, north west government entity cfo has fraudulent residence permit: minister aaron motsoaledi.

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Brazil again extends visa exemptions for US, Canada and Australia, this time until 2025

R IO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil’s government extended exemptions to tourist visa requirements for citizens of the U.S., Australia and Canada until April 2025, extending a program aimed at boosting tourism that had been scheduled to end Wednesday.

The decision, issued by Brazilian presidency and the Ministry of Foreign Relations late Tuesday, marks the third time Brazil has delayed the visa requirement since President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took office in 2023.

His predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, exempted the countries from visas as a means to boost tourism — although all three countries continued to demand visas from Brazilians.

That went against the South American country’s tradition of requiring visas from travelers based on the principle of reciprocity and equal treatment, and prompted Lula’s Foreign Ministry to say it would scrap the exemptions.

“Brazil does not grant unilateral exemption from visiting visas, without reciprocity, to other countries,” the ministry said at the time, while noting that the government stood ready to negotiate visa waiver agreements on a reciprocal basis. It did reach a deal with Japan to ease travel provisions.

The decision to maintain exemptions for the three countries is important for boosting tourism in Brazil, notably from the U.S., Brazil’s official tourism board Embratur said in a statement Tuesday.

Official data shows that nearly 670,000 Americans visited Brazil in 2023, making the U.S. the second largest country of origin after neighboring Argentina.

The government initially postponed the reinstatement of the visa requirement in October, then again in January. At the time, the government said it was still finalizing a new visa system and wanted to avoid implementing it close to the high season, mainly during the New Year’s celebrations and Carnival festivities in February, which attract tens of thousands of tourists.