By Jason Felix.
Globally renowned comedian and former US TV show host, Trevor Noah, may have a healthy bank balance after a seven-year stint as host of The Daily Show, but even punting his home country now seemingly comes with a hefty price tag.
The superstar is set to be paid R33 million to promote South Africa as a tourist destination.
It raised the ire of parliamentarians, who called on the tourism department to halt the venture.
Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille made it clear that the bill would be footed by the Tourism Business Council of SA [TBCSA], and no government funding would be spent on the venture.
Earlier this week, De Lille defended the matter in Parliament after the chairperson of the tourism committee, Tandi Mahambehlala, called on the department to halt the plan.
A whistleblower apparently informed the committee that public money was being spent on the venture.
But De Lille said: “I am not mocking anyone. Anything that a whistleblower says must be looked at further or investigated. In this instance, I can tell you that the whistleblower did not give you the full story.
“It was on 21 July that I made the comment. The whistleblower did not tell you that I informed everybody that this was done by the private sector.
She said: “We were consulting tourism stakeholders, and they were all there. There is something wrong with the ears of the whistleblower, but I did say that this is being done by the private sector.”
“I can tell you that in my last engagement, when I met with the chair of the tourism council… if you want anything on the matter with Trevor Noah, please contact them.”
In a statement, though, Mahambehlala likened the Noah promo video to the controversial Tottenham Hotspur marketing deal that was eventually cancelled.
SA Tourism came under fire in February when Daily Maverick reported on a proposed a three-year deal, worth £42.5 million (nearly R1 billion), with Spurs.
Mahambehlala warned SA Tourism that Tourism Marketing South Africa levies, contributed by the TBCSA to the entity, should not be used as a slush fund to commit financial malfeasance.
TBCSA’s chairperson, Blacky Komani, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Once received, it will be added.