The new members of the Gauteng Gambling Board (GGB) were announced on Friday and will take up their positions immediately. The board, which oversees all casino, sports, horse and bingo gambling in the province, will be made up of seven new members.
Lawyer Bally Cheune has been appointed to the position of Gauteng Gambling Board Chairman and he will be supported by his deputy, the former minister for safety and security, Sydney Mufamadi. In addition, five other member positions have been filled.
Previous Board Terminated by a High Court Ruling
The previous board was terminated on January 23 last year following a ruling by a South Gauteng High Court. The ruling followed legal action that was brought by the Gauteng Gambling Board against Qedani Mahlangu, the Economic Development MEC at that time. A decision had been made to transfer all offices of the board from the Northern suburbs of Johannesburg where they had been located to the center of the city.
At the time of the legal action, Ms. Mahlangu reported that “the MEC took a decision to relocate all the department’s agencies to the city center, where they could all be under one roof.” The board was required by court ruling to resolve the dispute internally; however they failed to do so, resulting in the termination of the board.
New Board Sets to Work on Pressing Issues
The new members of the Gauteng Gambling Board have already set to work on important duties, with their first deadlines approaching at the end of April. The new Economic Development MEC, Nkosiphendule Kolisile has set the deadlines. His spokeswoman, Phindile Kunene said, “The board is expected to expedite and finalize the forensic audit into the operations and management of the entity by the end of April 2013.”
The board will need to appoint the position of Chief Executive Officer, review the entire management structure of the operation and deal promptly with license applications that are awaiting review.
Besides Chairman Bally Cheune and deputy Sydney Mufamadi, five other member have also been appointed to the board.
They are Sipho Luyolo Majombozi, former Chairman of the Eastern Cape Gambling and Betting Board; Lentswe Mokgatle, former Gauteng deputy director general; Johnny Sexwale, former Chairman of Constitutional Hill; Zola Majavu, former CEO of the Premier Soccer League; Shaila Hari, former Financial Officer of Nedcor and Franscina Jacoba van der Westhuizen, Chairwoman of Johannesburg’s local committee for liquor licensing.