MABUZA TAKES THE HELM AT CASA

Tsogo Sun CE To Head Up Key Industry Group For A Second Term

(Cape Town 26 June 2006) Tsogo Sun chief executive Jabu Mabuza has been elected to succeed Peter Bacon as the chairman of the Casino Association of South Africa. Mabuza will be serving his second term, having been the founding chairman of CASA in 2003/4.

CASA chief executive, Derek Auret, making the announcement today said that the new chairman would lead a substantial industry which had created nearly 100 000 direct and indirect new jobs over the past ten years. Last year it contributed R2.7-billion in taxation to the public sector, and since 1996, had been responsible for more than R12.75-billion in new investment.

“Jabu Mabuza is a dynamic leader who is held in high regard by all of CASA’s stakeholders. As our founding chairman in 2003/4, Jabu was responsible for the establishment of the association, bringing together in common purpose all the key players in a highly competitive and previously fragmented industry. Importantly, he made a positive contribution to the evolution of the 2004 National Gambling Act, and subsequent regulations, which have defined our operating environment”.

Mr Mabuza paid tribute to his predecessor, retiring Sun International CE Peter Bacon, for the role he had played during his term as chairman, and in his thirty year career with Sun International.

“Peter is one of South Africa’s best known and regarded business leaders, and it is widely acknowledged that he has been instrumental in the robust growth of our country’s tourism and leisure sector in recent years. Moreover he has played a well recognised and crucially important role in the development of the country’s internationally respected policy framework for the gambling industry, and the fact that our industry is held in such high regard here and abroad has everything to do with Peter’s thoughtful and vital contribution over many years”.

Gambling industry analyst and academic, Professor Peter Collins, executive director of the National Responsible Gambling Programme (NRGP), and Professor of Policy Studies at Salford University in Manchester, said that Mabuza’s appointment would further enhance the international credibility of South Africa’s casino industry.

“Jabu Mabuza is widely regarded among regulators and industry leaders for his social awareness, and his leadership of an industry in South Africa that had delivered much in the public interest. He has been in the forefront of new thinking on key social issues such as responsible gambling, transformation and corporate governance, and he is a modern business leader who understands that commercial success depends on being trusted to meet society’s expectations”.

Mr Mabuza said that the establishment of CASA in 2003 had been a milestone in the development of a mature, accountable and responsible casino industry in South Africa.

“Our role is to conscientiously represent the interests of our industry, and as importantly, those of the stakeholders we serve. Since inception, our organisation has made an important contribution to the evolution of good public policy and good governance in respect of gambling, something which is essential for our long term sustainability as an industry.

“During my term of office, it will be my focus to consolidate and expand the casino sector’s contribution to public benefits, enhance our commitment to good corporate citizenship as an industry, and to meet and exceed our obligations in respect of social priorities such as problem gambling. I will ensure that everyone in the industry, and all our stakeholders, understand our commitment with regard to these issues”, he said.

For further information please contact Derek Auret on 082 557 6566.