Sun City Resort
Update on PPT linkages at Sun City, April 2005
Sun City is currently looking at local enterprise procurement, to complement
its existing community investment. It is assisting two new local enterprises
to get established and supply the resort. 4 local women have been trained in
making cards, with the aim of meeting Sun City's requirement for approximately
1000 per week. An existing small glass recycling enterprise is being upgraded
with new equipment and skills, so that it can supply glasses made from used
wine bottles to Sun City, and provide an attraction and product to guests. Sun
City is also looking at developing heritage and culture tours, which will stimulate
the flow of tourists and earnings to the wider community.
Sun
City is the largest, and probably best-known, resort in Southern Africa
with 1,535 rooms in four hotels plus a time-share complex. The resort receives
approximately 600,000 staying guests annually. After its neighbour, the
Pilanesberg
National Park, it is the second most important tourism attraction in the
North West Province of South Africa and
an important employer with approximately 1,700 full-time and 4,000 part-time
staff.
Tourism in
the North West Province is widely considered to have major growth potential
as the province is located adjacent to Gauteng, the densely populated and socio-economic
hub of South Africa. The Sun City complex is famous for its casino and entertainment
facilities, but has recently expanded to appeal to families, business and conference
travellers, and sporting enthusiasts, in particular golfers. Furthermore, approximately
40 sub-concessionaires are located within the complex ranging from multinational
food chains to local newsagents and pharmacies. Sun City is owned by
Sun
International, one of the largest Southern African hospitality companies,
with a host of gaming concessions.
Sun City and the Pilanesberg National Park were established in 1979 on land
that was alienated from several Batswana tribes. Two of these tribes, the Royal
Bafokeng (their capital being Phokeng) and the Bakgatla ba Kgafela enjoy rights
to significant natural resources (platinum and gold). The Bakubung, on the other
hand, are relatively poor and rely largely on linkages to Sun City for employment
and income. The town of Ledig with a population of approximately 15,000 is the
centre of the Bakubung tribe. Ledig is one of the
poorest
wards in the province with 67% of the population earning less than R6,000
per annum, and nearly 57% having no annual individual income at all. While the
Rustenburg district in general has a relatively low unemployment rate due to
extensive mining activities, mining is not available in Ledig, and consequently
industrial development is very low. The unofficial unemployment percentages
for Ledig and Phokeng are estimated to be well over 60%. While the majority
of housing in Ledig and Phokeng are formal dwellings, both wards are characterised
by relative few connections to the national electricity grid, lack of availability
of fresh water and telecommunication in dwellings. As such, a sharp gap marks
the splendour of Sun City and its poor neighbours.
Sun City has already established many linkages with neighbouring communities
and operates a sizeable
Corporate
Social Investment (CSI) programme. Initiatives already undertaken by Sun
City include support to local businesses such as for example a hydroponics farm
(also known as ‘tank farming’, i.e. growing plants in water containing
dissolved nutrients), craft producers, a local tour-operator, waste removal
company, and a babysitting project. Sun City has an extensive in-house training
programme but also supports local schools and curriculum development. Services
(such as security) and resources (such as water and recyclable waste) are shared
with the local communities in a number of ways, while Sun City also helps with
the building of a local HIV/AIDS clinic. The Corporate Social Investment that
was spent within a 45km radius of Sun City is estimated to have been R9 million
since 1996.
PPT linkages at the Sun City site:
Several ideas to create new or deepen existing linkages between the Sun City
resort and local stakeholders have been considered with the help of the PPT
facilitation team. In December 2003 it was agreed to focus the PPT facilitation
on two key approaches: a) to develop and expand the existing hydroponics centre
into a viable trading centre and tourism attraction with new linkages to local
SMMEs; and b) to bring the various existing activities together under a common
brand, which will promote the products and encompass additional initiatives.
Click
here for the summary of scoping report
