Durban – THE R1.2 billion Tourism Equity Fund (TEF) has been suspended after two organisations threatened to take legal action against the criteria that will be used to award funding to applicants.
The Covid-19 pandemic brought the tourism sector to a grinding halt.
The fund, established by the Department of Tourism in partnership with the Small Enterprise Finance Agency, is a mechanism to provide a combination of debt finance and grant funding to facilitate equity acquisition as well as new project development in the tourism sector by black entrepreneurs.
Tourism Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane said she had received a letter from attorneys representing trade…