Trevor Noah’s R33m tourism paycheck ‘won’t come from taxpayer’
Questions are being asked about a reported R33 million being paid to comedian Trevor Noah to appear in a video to promote South Africa as a tourism destination.
Parliament’s tourism committee has now taken up the issue.
The committee’s chairperson Tandi Mahambehlala has raised the issue with Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille, saying taxpayers cannot be expected to pay millions for Noah’s appearance in a 5-minute promotional video.
The advert is part of a worldwide push to attract more tourists to the country.
Mahambehlala says while De Lille has denied that the R33 million will come from the taxpayer, the committee would still like the deal to be cancelled.
“The minister clarified that the R33 million was a contribution from the Tourism Business Council of Southern Africa. However, Ms Mahambehlala likened the R33 million 5-minute video promo by Trevor Noah to the recent controversial Tottenham Hotspur marketing strategy and called on the Entity to stop it. She warned South African Tourism that the TOMSA levies contributed by TBCSA to the entity should not be used as a slush fund to commit financial maleficence.”
Noah is currently on a 12-stop tour of South Africa.