The Eastern Cape Gambling and Betting Board

The Eastern Cape Gambling and Betting Board, after consultation with the MEC responsible for Economic affairs in the province and after being approached by various interested parties, has commenced a process which is intended to result in applications being invited for the two available casino licenses in zones three and four of the province, one license being available in each zone.

A draft Request for Proposal was issued in February and the proposed closing date for applications, subject to amendment after the bidders conference and final RFP, is June 12. Applicants will only be able to respond to the final RFP.
The province’s existing casinos have brought much needed infra structural development and created many sustainable jobs. Given the interest shown and the present positive economic climate, the Board felt it opportune to begin this process which is intended to bring jobs and infrastructure to the Northern and Transkei areas of the province.

In the past two applications for developments, worth ZAR52m and ZAR68m, were made for Queenstown but neither applicant could raise the necessary funds. No applications were received for zone 4 despite advertisement. The Board then resolved to leave the licenses in abeyance. Recently the board has however been approached by several interested parties.

The Board has proposed minimum criteria for the applications including a minimum investment of ZAR50m in zone three and ZAR65m in zone four; minimum facilities required, including a hotel, restaurant etc, minimum shareholding by Eastern Cape-based empowerment shareholders and trusts and the like. To foster tourism the board also proposes the development has an Eastern Cape theme or a radical ‘must see, must do’ theme.

It is expected that the anticipated two new casinos will contribute meaningfully to infrastructure development, tourism and, in particular, job creation in the Province, VG Mati, CEO, told InterGame.

Busy show for UK technologists

Heber enjoyed its busiest ever ATEI show this year. It showed Firefly X10i, its recently updated Firefly product; the Axis System multimedia controller; Pluto 6 with dual video functionality and the recently launched Pluto 6 Dual Video Development Kit.
“ATEI is an extremely important show for Heber” said Richard Horne, product support supervisor. “This is my 10th year at ATEI and the 2006 show has been one of the busiest I’ve attended. ATEI is an ideal showcase for all our gaming products and future developments. It’s also a great opportunity to meet many of our existing customers face-to-face as well as talking to companies interested in the Heber solution.”
Not only did Heber enjoy a successful show, Gamesoft, one of Heber’s major UK customers, enjoyed huge success with its new Section 16/21 PowerGames dual screen video games including Firestorm, Monkey Business, Golden Pachinko and Firecracker. All these games run on the Heber Axis system. Gamesoft also unveiled its newly acquired Ace brand.