De Lille 'concerned' About Speed Of Equity Fund Disbursement

The speed at which decisions are taken on Tourism Equity Fund TEF applications and the rate at which these funds are disbursed to approved applicants are painfully slow and could halt growth.

So said Minister of Tourism Patricia de Lille in a press statement, highlighting the challenges tourism businesses face in accessing finance. Delays retard the sectors transformation and creation of much-needed jobs in the tourism sector.

The R1.2 billion 62m TEF was launched in January 2021 by the Department of Tourism to provide a new financial support mechanism to stimulate investment and transformation in the tourism sector, combining debt finance and grant funding to facilitate equity acquisition and new project development.

However, the fund was placed on hold after lobby group AfriForum and trade union Solidarity contested the legality and rationality of the 51 black-owner/managed qualification criteria for the fund in the High Court.

They suggested it deviates materially from the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act read with the Tourism Code. The Supreme Court eventually ruled that the foundation of the TEF was unconstitutional.