Gauteng Gambling Board placed under administration again

The troubled Gauteng Gambling Board has been placed under administration again. Gauteng economic development, agriculture, environment and rural development MEC Parks Tau announced on Tuesday that after consultations with Premier David Makhura’s provincial cabinet he has appointed senior advocate Fana Nalane as the board’s administrator.

Nalane is expected to perform the functions and exercise the board’s powers for a period of six months. Tau also determined that the administrator has all the powers and functions of the board conferred and imposed by the Gauteng Gambling Act and other applicable legislation except granting and revoking licences.

In terms of the act, Tau has the power to take over the administration of the board and appoint an administrator to perform its functions and exercise the powers if it has failed to perform its functions, exercise its powers or comply with its strategic plan.

He can also intervene if the board has failed to comply with his instructions when there is mismanagement of its finances or there is for any other reason, good cause to do so. This is not the first time the board has been placed under administration. In 2012, former Gauteng economic development MEC Qedani Mahlangu also placed the board under administration and appointed attorney Bally Chuene as its administrator.

This followed the board’s refusal to relocate from the Johannesburg suburb of Bramley to the city’s central business district. The board resisted moving to downtown Johannesburg due to its having moved from Centurion in Tshwane to Bramley, north of Johannesburg, at a cost of R101 million and insisted that relocating would amount to wasteful and fruitless expenditure and was against the Public Finance Management Act and other related National Treasury regulations.

Source: iol.co.za

Samuel

I am a journalist specializing in gambling in Africa and around the world. I am particularly interested in stories about games and casinos.