Casinos in South Africa

Older casinos have been operating in the former 'homelands', and in the country's Southern Africa's neighbours (for instance, at Zimbabwe's Victoria Falls and in Swaziland's Ezulwini Valley), for some years. They offer the full range of games (roulette, blackjack and so on), together with the ubiquitous slots, most of them catering in both comprehensive and luxurious fashion for their guests.

Most casinos in South Africa, in fact, form only part of a much bigger resort area that encompasses a hotel or hotels and a wide range of leisure and sporting facilities. The most venerable and to date by far the largest of the complexes is Sun City, flagship of the Sun International hospitality fleet of venues and founded by leading South African entrepreneur Sol Kerzner in 1979. It boasts four hotels, including the ultra-sophisticated, domed and minareted Palace of the Lost City; fine restaurants (one set on its own tropical island), a vast 'Superbowl' indoor centre that hosts conferences and indoor spectaculars; spacious and quite beautifully landscaped grounds, a huge man-made lake with its own beach and tidal waves; a planted forest, and two superb golf courses.

Other casino complexes, old and new, aren't quite as expansive, but they all offer interest, entertainment, a variety of leisure activities and, of course, accommodation.