Tourism minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane has defended her department’s plans to roll out the Tourism Equity Fund (TEF) – but opponents are getting ready to take the matter to court.
The fund was established and launched by the department in partnership with the Small Enterprise Finance Agency (SEFA), as a new financial support mechanism to stimulate investment and transformation in the tourism sector.
“The fund was set up as public/private partnership, in particular with commercial banks, in an effort to crowd-in investments in the tourism sector so as to increase diversification and the broadening of ownership of tourism attractions in South Africa,” Kubayi-Ngubane said.
However, she noted that the fund has faced…