The Hemingways Casino licence is due to expire in September 2011 and the Eastern Cape Gambling and Betting Board (ECGBB) is calling for applications for the East London Zone 2 licence. A draft Request for Proposal (RFP) is due to be issued on 21 December at the ECGBB offices and will cost R1,000. On 21 January a bidders’ conference will be held, followed by the issue of a final RFP. The proposed closing date for applications is 7 May, 2010.

Gambling Board CEO Mabutho Zwane said that the existing casinos in the province have brought infrastructural development and created sustainable employment. This year two other ECGBB casino licences have been put out to tender but in both cases Sun International, the existing licence holder, was approved for licence renewal. The present licence holder in the Zone 2 district is Tsogo Sun Gaming. Hemingways Casino has a Key West theme inspired by the author Ernest Hemingway.

Any bidders for the licence will be expected to put forward plans for additional hotel and restaurant facilities as well as have substantial shareholding by empowerment shareholders based in the Eastern Cape region. The Tsogo Sun Group is the largest hotel and gaming group in Africa with two separate trading operations - Southern Sun Hotels and Tsogo Sun Gaming, which is the second largest casino operator in South Africa.

In June Tsogo completed the purchase of the Caledon Hotel, Spa & Casino near Cape Town and a major shareholding in Century Casino Newcastle from US-based Century Casinos. In September Dragonfish, the independent B2B division of 888 Holdings Plc, signed an agreement with the company to provide total gaming services for its first move into online gaming. (E-12.18.09)

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