Casino Owners In South Africa
Alexis Janoray VP Development Africa & Indian Ocean. Accor has strong ambitions for Africa where the group intends to maintain its historical leadership. With dedicated development offices in Johannesburg and in Casablanca, we are focusing on consolidating our footprint in North Africa as well as expending our presence in Central and South Africa. South Africa Casinos - Browse our directory of Casinos in South Africa. Find Casinos in South Africa.
| Coordinates: 25°20′25″S27°5′27″E / 25.34028°S 27.09083°ECoordinates: 25°20′25″S27°5′27″E / 25.34028°S 27.09083°E | |
| Country | South Africa |
|---|---|
| Province | North West |
| Municipality | Moses Kotane |
| Established | 1979 |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (SAST) |
| Postal code (street) | |
| Area code | 2999 |
| Website | www.suninternational.com/sun-city/ |
Sun City is a luxury resort and casino, situated in the North West Province of South Africa. It is located between the Elands River and the Pilanesberg, about 140 km northwest of Johannesburg, near the city of Rustenburg. The complex borders the Pilanesberg Game Reserve. It is made up of a number of themed subresorts with hotels on each, including the original Sun City Resort, The Cabanas, The Cascades and the Lost City (The Palace).
History[edit]
Sun City was developed by the hotel magnate Sol Kerzner as part of his Sun International group of properties. It was officially opened on 7 December 1979, then located in the Bantustan of Bophuthatswana.
As Bophuthatswana had been declared an independent state by South Africa's apartheid government (although unrecognised as such by any other country), it could provide entertainment such as gambling and topless revue shows, which were banned in South Africa. Those factors, as well as its relatively close location to the large metropolitan areas of Pretoria and Johannesburg, ensured that Sun City soon became a popular holiday and weekend destination.
The United Nations had imposed a cultural boycott on South Africa in condemnation of apartheid. To overcome this, Kerzner offered substantial financial incentives to performing artists to use Sun City as a venue. Several acts disregarded the boycott and performed at the venue, such as the Beach Boys,[1]Linda Ronstadt,[1]Cher,[1]Millie Jackson,[1]Liza Minnelli,[1]Frank Sinatra (1981),[2]Paul Anka,[2]Status Quo,[3]Rod Stewart (July 1983),[2][3] and Elton John (October 1983).[2]
British rock band Queen's series of performances at the venue in October 1984 in transgression of the boycott caused considerable controversy, prompting criticism in the British music press, a fine from the Musicians' Union and their inclusion on the United Nations' blacklisted artists. Following the criticism, Queen strongly defended their decision, saying they 'play to anybody who wants to come and listen' and were 'a very non-political group', but donated to a school for the deaf and blind to prove their philanthropic values.[3]
On 25 October 1980, Sun City's 'Superbowl' hosted a racially mixed world heavyweight boxing championship fight between champion American Mike Weaver and challenger South African Gerrie Coetzee. It was won by Weaver by thirteenth-round knockout. The fight was for Weaver's World Boxing Association world heavyweight title.[4]
In 1985, E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt made the venue the focus of his music-industry activist group Artists United Against Apartheid. Forty-nine top recording artists collaborated on a song called 'Sun City', in which they pledged they would not perform at the resort because of their opposition to apartheid. Additionally, Simple Minds included the song as part of a live medley on their Live in the City of Light double album in 1987.
In January 1986 southern Africa’s first monorail – the Skytrain – took its first trip. It connects Sun City’s parking lot to its Entertainment Centre.[5]
Post-apartheid[edit]
Sun City has continued since Bophutatswana was re-incorporated in the new South Africa in 1994.
The resort has four hotels:
- Soho Hotel (Formerly known as Sun City Hotel or The Main Hotel)[6]
- Cascades Hotel;[7]
- The Cabanas;
- The Palace of the Lost City.[8]
Sun City has the Vacation Club which is a hotel but also sold in a timeshare scheme.
Sun City also has two international-standard 18-hole golf courses, the Gary Player Country Club and the Lost City Golf Course, both designed by Gary Player.[9] The Gary Player Country Club is home to the Nedbank Golf Challenge (formerly the Nedbank Million Dollar Golf Challenge) that is held annually.
The Sun City resort has hosted various concerts and events, including the Miss South Africa and Miss South Africa Teen Pageant. These pageants take place annually in Sun City's Super Bowl Arena and the Valley of Waves. It also hosted Miss World pageant five times, from 1992 to 1995, and 2001. The resort was also the site of the Sun City Agreement.
In 2001, Sun City was the site of the 2nd IIFA Awards. Held at the Superbowl Arena, it honoured both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in Bollywood, for that year. Also on that year on 19 May, Irish vocal pop band Westlife held a concert for their Where Dreams Come True Tour supporting their album Coast to Coast.
In 2014, the film Blended starring Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandlerpremiered on the premises after being filmed mostly at the resort, as was the 2017 film 10 Days in Sun City.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ abcde(18 October 1985). '`Sun City` Album Tackles Apartheid Issue'. Chicago Tribune (Chicago).
- ^ abcd'Elton John South Africa tour jogs memories of Sun City gigs'. The Nation. 11 January 2008. Archived from the original on 19 December 2013. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
- ^ abcHarris, John (14 January 2005). 'The sins of St Freddie'. The Guardian. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
- ^'Oct. 25, 1980: Weaver vs Coetzee - A Heavyweight Slugfest In Sun City'. The Fight City. 2018-10-25. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
- ^'The Big 40! - Sun City'. Retrieved 2021-02-23.
- ^'Soho Hotel Sun City South Africa'. www.sun-city-south-africa.com. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
- ^'Cascades Sun City South Africa'. www.sun-city-south-africa.com. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
- ^'The Palace'. www.suninternational.com. Sun International.
- ^'Sun City Golf Gary Player Country Club Lost City Golf Course'. suncity.hotel.co.za. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
External links[edit]
| Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sun City. |
| Preceded by Georgia World Congress Center | Miss World Venue 1992–1995 | Succeeded by M. Chinnaswamy Stadium |
| Preceded by Millennium Dome | Miss World Venue 2001 | Succeeded by Alexandra Palace |
South African entrepreneurs have played a major role in founding and developing the online casino industry. Many South Africans became involved in the early days of online casinos, starting in the late 1990s. They were instrumental in establishing many areas of the industry including software development, operations, marketing, graphic design, and payment processing. Payment processing methods such as payment gateways and types of banking methods are a part of South African business innovations.
Seeing opportunities South African entrepreneurs, recognised there was growth potential in the industry and worked to establish concrete foundations for other companies around the world.
Microgaming Proves South Africa's Leadership in Online Casinos
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South Africa's most significant players and roots are in Microgaming as well as other well known South African founded casino operator companies. These companies handle customer service, marketing, payment processing and sometimes software development for casino owners.
A Durban entrepreneur—Martin Moshal, founded Microgaming. The company launched in 1994. While it is based in the Isle of Man for their software development and casino products its roots are heavily in South Africa. Microgaming provides casino, mobile, bingo, poker, sportsbook, live dealer, land-based, and network gaming platforms. Already they have offered the world 700 unique casino games with over 1,200 variants.
Their mobile range has increased to 110 dedicated games with 33 download options for Android and 45 HTML 5 versions. Microgaming is a real credit to South African talents with awards earned every year since their beginning.
Many of the largest casino operators are still based in South Africa or retain a very strong connection to the country. For example Carmen Media, which is based in Cape Town, runs various top Microgaming casinos through Belle Rock Gaming Branding.
Osiris Trading is another company located in Johannesburg. They operate some of the biggest online casinos utilising Microgaming software like Fortune Lounge Brands including Royal Vegas Casino.
South Africans founded the Palace Group operating out of London. They run big brands such as Spin Palace Casino and Betway Sports and Casino. Other important groups are Silver Sands and Genesys Group, which are Betonsoft Software casinos.
Software development and graphic design go hand in hand for casino operations. One of the most successful and respected graphic design companies is Vegas Kings. They are essential to the entire global online gambling industry with their roots in Cape Town.
Vegas Kings started in 1998, under the direction of the Adir Brothers, Moshe and Ashley. Now Vegas Kings offers iGaming Creative Agency as their next innovation for design and development in online gaming. With over 16 years in business and 100 of the top online brands like casino, bingo, sports, and poker they have made a name for themselves.
Clear Evidence that South Africans Helped Make the Casino Industry
It is clear from the evidence that South Africans have helped make the online casino industry what it is today. Company headquarters' may have moved for some of the more important online casino providers like Microgaming, but this does not change the roots or the foundation of innovations these companies provided and continue to offer.
Other opinions may disagree that just because someone from South Africa or located in South Africa began the innovative process it does not mean there is enough evidence to support the statement that South African entrepreneurs are pioneers of the online casino gambling industry. Yet Microgaming, Palace Group, Osiris Trading, Vegas Kings, and others are definitely deeply rooted in South Africa.
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The next step laid out by Vegas Kings is very clear—mobile versions of their software. Microgaming and Vegas Kings are helping to lead the way towards innovative mobile software both in games and graphic design.
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The only disadvantage is with all the innovation and current help with customer service and payment services, South African players are not allowed to have real money accounts at Microgaming casinos. Licensing issues prevent players from being a part of the oldest and top software provider founded by a South African. Despite this drawback South African players can enjoy real money play at several other online casinos as mentioned on GamblingAfrica.com. Recommendations provided will help South African customers find some great places to play their favourite online casino games from some of the best South African led companies and groups.