Having decided to acquire 92% of the issued share capital of Silverstar Development Limited, Gold Reef Resorts Limited has advised shareholders that it will apply to the Gauteng Gambling Board within 14 days for the approval required under the Gauteng Gambling Act. Gold Reef and Akani Leisure Investments (Proprietary) Limited, its BEE partner, could have exercised their option to take up 100% of Silverstar but made a strategic decision to take 92% only in equal proportions.

Silverstar is the holder of the sixth and last casino licence in the Gauteng province of South Africa. The West Rand licence for a casino in Krugersdorp was issued to Silverstar in April 2005, following a judgement of the Supreme Court of Appeal, and on 12 May 2006 the Gauteng Gambling Board granted its approval in all material respects to the request by Silverstar for changes to the terms of the casino license and the design of the Silverstar Casino Resort consistent with the environmental and planning approvals granted in late 2005. Gold Reef and Akani agreed to purchase the interest held by Century Casinos in Silverstar for R50.3 million (US$8.5 million) in December 2004.

According to Gold Reef sources, work will soon commence on the Silverstar Casino Resort and that it will reduce the company’s dependence on its Gold Reef City venue, 25 miles from the international airport in Johannesburg, once it is operational. It is hoped that the project will be completed before December next year. Gold Reef so far has not exercised its option to secure the casino management contract.

Krugersdorp, easily accessible from Pretoria and Johannesburg, is known as the industrial hub of Western Gauteng and has a population of around 350,000. Gauteng is the smallest South African province but is also the richest, contributing to over 38%of the country’s GDP and 9% of the African continent’s. Gold was discovered in Johannesburg in 1886 and the name Gauteng means ‘place of gold’ in the seSotho language. The province is now the economic engine of southern Africa and South Africa’s most profitable gambling location. (E-07.20.06)

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