Pretoria - Sun International South Africa has refused to be drawn into the wrangle surrounding the legitimacy of its Morula Sun Hotel and Casino licence, which it intends to relocate to Menlyn Maine.
Instead, group spokesman Michael Farr said the matter was under consideration by their legal advisers and would be dealt with, in time, in court papers.
Bingo licence operator Goldrush Group Management and four of its companies have commenced proceedings in the high court – which include the legitimacy of the licence – against the Gauteng Gambling Board, Sun International and others.
The application seeks to test the legality of the decision by the Gauteng Gambling Board to issue a casino licence under the Gauteng Gambling Act in June 2007 to Sun International, in respect of Morula Sun.
The original licence issued by the North West Gambling Board before the demarcation changed had expired in March 2006 and was never renewed, but replaced by Gauteng in June 2007.
The application was brought in July last year, and Peermont Global made a separate application challenging the decision by the Gauteng Gambling Board to grant Sun International an amendment and a transfer of the Morula licence.
Both applications arose from the decision of the Gauteng Gambling Board after a public hearing held in April in Pretoria.
Following the public hearing, Sun International was granted permission to transfer the Morula licence to the new R8 billion Menlyn Maine.
Preliminary work has already started on the R3bn Sun International component of the precinct, to be known as Time Square at Menlyn Maine.
Goldrush director Allan Scott said their court application and that of Peermont addressed separate issues, but they were complementary. Goldrush was attacking the legality of the Morula licence, while Peermont was reviewing the Gauteng Gambling Board’s decision from a procedural perspective, he said.
However, Peermont, whose facilities include Emperors Palace, was subsequently bought out by Sun International and part of the deal was to withdraw its application.
“As a result thereof, it has put an end to the hearing of relevant issues relating to the validity of a decision of the Gauteng Gambling Board to grant Sun International’s application, and also whether the board, which granted the licence, is lawful,” Scott said.
“We have now taken a decision to amend the papers to also challenge the granting of the transfer and amendment of the Morula licence by the Gauteng Gambling Board to Sun International.
“We have done so because we regard the matter as of great public interest.”
Scott said it was not in the public interest for commercial entities – Sun International and Peermont– to manipulate events to avoid the judiciary from testing the validity of the administrative conduct of the Gauteng Gambling Board, where there was a clear indication of an administrative impropriety .
l In the Pretoria News of June 30, the site of the Menlyn Maine Central Square was identified as the site of the casino. The casino site is on the opposite side of Aramist Avenue.
Pretoria News