North West Province Issues Tender for Feasibility Study

South Africans may soon have a new physical casino destination to visit if things go according to plan. The North West province, home to four South African casinos, is hoping to add a fifth destination. This will also be the province’s last casino.

The North West Gambling Board previously operated five casinos, however the last casino, the Morula Sun was annexed to Gauteng in 2006 after changes were made in provincial borders. Attempts were made to prevent a fifth license being awarded to the North West province, but they were recently dismissed.

North West Province Issues Tender for Feasibility Study

As such, the province published a tender for a service provider to conduct a feasibility study for the final casino license.

As per the tender, the study will “assist and guide the Board in making an informed decision regarding the roll-out of the fifth casino license.” The successful service operator will help the Board identify a suitable location for a new casino within the province.

The Board stipulated that the study and its report should be produced within three months.

In 2020, the NW Gambling Board commented on its intentions to explore the option of a new casino, saying: "The dates for the commencement and completion of the project will be informed by the feasibility study, however, the Board estimates that the launch for the brand-new Casino will be around the last quarter of 2024/2025 financial year.”

Four Existing Casinos in North West Province

The North West is already home to the country’s oldest and most popular gambling property, Sun City. Since the 1970s, Sun City has hosted major shows, pageants, sports events and more.

It has also welcomed casino fans from South Africa and around the world, thanks to its hundreds of slot machines and scores of table games.

But while Sun City may be the oldest casino, it’s not the largest in the province. That honor goes to the Klerksdorp-based Rio hotel and casino. In fact, Rio has the biggest total gaming space on the entire African continent!

This property was previously known as the Tusk Rio Casino Resort and boasts a total casino floor of close to 25,000 square meters!

The third casino, the Mmabatho Palms in historic Mafikeng, is an exotic entertainment oasis nestled between picturesque palms.

The casino features 155 slots and 10 gaming tables – Roulette, Blackjack and Poker - in both smoking and non-smoking areas.

The fourth casino is the embattled Carousel Casino which was temporarily closed in 2020 after getting into financial difficulties. The casino was sold by Sun International after the gambling and hotel group cited “escalating costs and declining revenues over the past few years” as one of the main reasons for doing so. The pandemic added to these economic woes.

The Carousel has since reopened and features four hundred slot machines, Roulette and Blackjack tables, a diverse range of restaurants, exciting entertainment, a luxurious Victorian style hotel and family-friendly self-catering accommodation.