Tourism Department officials decline to cooperate in misconduct investigation

Three employees of the Tourism Department who complained against Director-General Victor Tharage have refused to cooperate with the investigation into his alleged misconduct.

This was revealed by Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille when she was responding to written parliamentary questions from DA MP Haseena Ismail.

Ismail wrote to De Lille asking whether she has initiated a full investigation against Tharage after President Cyril Ramaphosa indicated last December that, though he was the appointing authority of directors-general, a minister should probe misconduct and make recommendations to him.

At the time, Ramaphosa confirmed that De Lille had reported the allegations and/or grievances of workplace bullying against women that were levelled against Tharage to him with supporting documents.

“After analysis of the documents provided, I concluded that the matter, as it currently stands, does not constitute a career incident but falls under the purview of the grievance process regulated under Section 35 of the Public Service Act, read with Chapter 10 of the Senior Management Handbook (SMS Handbook).

“In line with these prescripts, investigations into grievances must be done by the minister.”

In her response, De Lille said she had noted that the allegations required a high level of independence.

“I duly instructed the Office of the State Attorney to investigate the grievances and provide a report upon conclusion of the investigation for recommendation to the president,” she said.

The Office of the State Attorney appointed Advocate Leon Halgryn to investigate the matter.

“Investigations into the matter have been concluded, and I have received the investigation report, dated 13 July 2025, from Advocate Halgryn SC,” she said.

De Lille said she shared Halgryn’s investigation report with Ramaphosa on August 5, 2025, for his consideration.

“Adv Halgryn’s investigation report noted that the three complainants have refused to cooperate with the investigation,” she said.

De Lille first wrote to Ramaphosa in August 2024 regarding the grievances made by the three staff members after the grievances submitted in 2022 to previous ministers were not processed.

She wrote another letter to Ramaphosa on September 20 to follow up on the matter.

It was previously reported that De Lille had assigned Deputy Minister Maggie Sotyu to investigate the matter, starting from documents dating back to 2016.

Sotyu had met with the former tourism minister Mmamoloko Kubayi, who provided background information on the case.

“I noted that the allegations about the director-general were reported to two previous ministers. The directors-general are directly accountable to the president. As the minister, I must report such allegations to the president,” she said at the time.

According to De Lille, she was informed that Tharage launched an investigation into fruitless and wasteful expenditures amounting to R104 million, as initially found by the Auditor-General.

The forensic investigation, conducted by SNG Grant Thornton, was apparently concluded in 2020 in relation to projects the Auditor-General identified as fruitless, wasteful, and irregular expenditures.

She said Tharage had informed her that eight officials were implicated in the report and disciplinary measures had been instituted against them, a criminal case opened, and a civil claims process initiated as per the recommendation of the forensic report.

Tharage could not be reached for comment, but he previously said the allegations were not only a misrepresentation of facts but were also very malicious, dishonest, and highly defamatory.

“It is also important to state that to date, no formal allegations have been brought before me; should such allegations be presented to me formally, I will engage accordingly in the interest of accountability,” he had said.

mayibongwe.maqhina@inl.co.za