The Minister of Tourism, Patricia de Lille has called for improved speed in the allocation of the Tourism Equity Fund (TEF) to businesses.
According to an update she provided, only 20 business applications that amount to R301 million under the R1.2 billion TEF, have been approved in the last 12 months.
In her progress report, De Lille highlighted that most submissions and approvals are from KwaZulu-Natal, followed by Gauteng, Eastern Cape, Limpopo, Western Cape, and the Free State.
The Minister criticised delays experienced in the fund managed by the Small Enterprise Finance Agency (SEFA) on behalf of the Department of Tourism.
“The administration of this fund and application processing has been too slow and despite all SEFA has done to improve on the management of the TEF, efforts which I had impressed on SEFA to work hard on, I remain seriously concerned about the speed at which it disburses funds to the approved applicants.
The more delays tourism businesses face in accessing finance, the more we are not achieving and creating the much-needed jobs in the tourism sector,” explained De Lille.
The fund is meant to address obstacles faced by enterprises in the tourism industry and motivate a more inclusive participation in accordance with the targets of the Tourism B-BEE Sector Codes.
In addition, the Minister also added that outreach activities to educate entrants about the TEF application process will be ramped up.
“I am appealing to SEFA to continue putting more meaningful work and effort into ensuring that applicants access the TEF urgently, and as agreed with them, to be diligent in discharging their responsibilities in managing the TEF,” added the minister.
Moreover, De Lille indicated that the department will not be renewing its contract with SEFA for the next phase of the TEF, and further apologised for the inconvenience caused by the poor performance of the application adjudication process.
