The Limpopo Tourism Agency (LTA) Board of Directors has this afternoon announced changes to its executive management at a media briefing session which was hosted at their head offices. This is following the end of the term for the Acting CEO, Mr. Sello Maleka, ending his five months term at the helm of the Provincial Tourism Authority.
The new appointments are as follows:
1. Mr. Ndavhe Ramakuela the Chief Marketing Officer of the entity was announced as the new Acting Chief Executive Officer for a term of six months.
2. Mr. Peter Maila, Financial Management Senior Manager’s term as Acting Chief Financial Officer has been extended with an additional six months.
3. Dr Mavhungu Musitha, Senior Manager Information Services, has been appointed as the Acting Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) for a term of six months.
During his address to the media, LTA Board Chairperson Mr. Andrew Dipela, thanked Mr. Sello Maleka for steering the ship for the past five months. He will now move to his position as Chief Corporate Services Officer to lead a new and exciting program which requires his full attention. Pronouncements about this project will be made in due course when the Agency outlines its plans for the 2021/22 Financial Year.
“It would have been our intention to appoint a new and permanent CEO by now, however, there is a process of reconfiguration of State-Owned Entities in the Province led by the Office of the Premier. As a responsible entity, we would like to respect that process and await its completion before making any senior appointments.
He went on further to say, “Both the Acting CFO and Acting CMO are not acting in the positions for the first time as they have previously acted in the same positions when requested to do so. We are confident as the Board that the appointed colleagues are capable and qualified to serve in the positions to assist the entity to achieve its goals and mandate. When the entity obtained an unqualified audit opinion from the Auditor General for the first time, it was through the assistance and experience of Mr. Maila. I wish to take this opportunity to congratulate all the appointees in their new roles and wish them all the success in leading this entity”.
Mr. Ndavhe Ramakuela, the Acting CEO, expressed his gratitude to the Board for the opportunity and was confident that the entity would do well as it had already seen better results since tourism re-opened after a hard lockdown last year. “The international travel might still be closed as entire Europe and the Americas are experiencing a resurgence of Covid-19 in the form of a third wave, but this gives us an opportunity to focus on domestic tourism. Since Tourism Month last year, the entity has been working hard to implement the recovery plan.
We also conducted a successful Summer Campaign, which was also supported by South African Tourism (SAT) to promote destination Limpopo. Just recently we conducted a successful brand awareness campaign called #UnlikeAnyOther, which sought to make Limpopo top-of-mind destination to travellers all over the world. We are positive that with the budget we received, we will still continue to market Limpopo with more vigour and enthusiasm to make it a must-visit destination in the country”, said Ramakuela.
