In March the Eastern Cape Gambling and Betting Board granted a 10-year extension of the Wild Coast Sun casino licence. This week Sun International’s Emfuleni Resorts and rival bidder for the Nelson Mandela Bay casino licence, the Embo Consortium, are making presentations to the gambling board at public hearings. Yesterday Clifford Ngakane, general manager of the Boardwalk in Port Elizabeth, headed the Emfuleni delegation; today the Embo Consortium makes its presentation.

The Eastern Cape has four functioning casinos with a fifth licence in Mthatha still the subject of legal dispute in the courts. In April the casinos contributed over R6.25 million in gaming tax, more than 86% of betting tax in the region. Gross turnover for the month was R1.2 billion for slots and R38 million for gaming tables. Gross turnover for racing and route/site operations was R21.2 million and R78.8 million respectively. The Board is due to select the Port Elizabeth casino licence holder in August for 15 years from October 2010.

In its presentation Emfuleni mentioned its proven commitment to sound environmental and social values. Ngakane pointed out that Boardwalk Casino has subsidised Fish River Sun for ten years and if the casino licence is not renewed then the resort would have to be closed with resultant job losses. The loss of retail and other activities at the Boardwalk, sustained by casino traffic, would mean further employment losses. Emfuleni presently supports around 70 community projects in the area. (E-06.11.09)

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