One of Mzansi’s biggest entertainment exports, Trevor Noah, recently made a guest appearance on ‘The Clement Manyathela Show’ on talk radio station 702.
And it didn’t take long for the conversation to move to rumours of Noah allegedly being paid by SA Tourism to front a massive marketing campaign which would see him R33 million richer.
The comedian, who is currently in the country for his ‘Trevor Noah Live In South Africa’ tour presented by Savanna, cleared up the confusion in a previous interview on East Coast Radio and explained, “First of all, there is nothing with SA Tourism. No one from SA Tourism approached me; there’s nothing from government.”
When Manyathela touched on the subject once again, Noah joked, “I wish I had all the money that newspapers and tabloids say I have.
“Sometimes I read the newspapers and think, ‘guys, now I want that money’. Now I’m depressed because you told me about money that I don’t have.”
Trevor Noah clarifies the R33 million saga. pic.twitter.com/ytpfsIZo8y
— SA Content (@sacontent03) September 13, 2023
The former ‘Daily Show’ host went on to explain that his deal has nothing to do with SA Tourism, and that he’s dealing with a private body of hotels and Airbnbs.
“Coming out of Covid, South Africa had the lowest rebound rate of any nation in the world that needs tourism as a big part of its GDP.
“We cannot afford to not have tourists in this country,” he added.
Noah said he understood why South Africans questioned the alleged R33 million agreement with SA Tourism.
“South Africans are so traumatised from corruption on every corner and every topic we touch, that everyone thinks everything is connected to corruption somehow in every shape and form,” he added.
Reiterating that there’s no tender or agreement whatsoever, Noah concluded, “I can’t work for government because I also want to talk about government.”
IOL
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