Discussions over changing legislation to allow a second casino in the Western Cape metropolitan area are progressing but at a very slow pace.
There is much discussion over the possibility of a second casino in the Cape metropolitan area. At present national legislation states that the Western Cape may have only five casinos, most of which are outside of the Cape metropolitan area.
However, since the expiration of the Grand West casino’s exclusivity license (located in the Northern Cape Town suburb of Goodwood) there have been calls for the law to change to allow one of the other four casinos in the area to move to the metropolitan area. The question is which casino would move and there have been suggestions that all of the four other casinos are interested.
The CEO of Tsogo Sun Group, Marcel von Aulock said that they are pleased that the Western Cape provincial treasury has started the process “to allow a second casino in the Cape Metropole region, which we think, if handled properly, will be very good for the City of Cape Town and the broader province.” However, Aulock said that it is still extremely early in the process and there is not yet enough detail to be able to comment “on what a final relocation would entail, and from a Tsogo point of view, which of the three Western Cape Licenses we operate should be relocated.”
The MEC of Western Cape, Alan Winde has said relocating a casino to the Western Cape had the potential to increase the appeal of the city as a tourist destination as well as increase tax revenue and generally improve the livelihoods of residents in the Western Cape.
An analyst with Prescient Securities, Cheree Dyers, said that Sun International has already suggested that a second casino in the area would affect its business. However, Dyers said that details of what a new casino would be are not yet available so it is not known in what way it would impact Sun International.
