This is according to the North West’s Deputy Police Commissioner, Patrick Asaneng, who was speaking on the issue in a media briefing on Wednesday afternoon. Asaneng says till the forensic investigation is concluded, hotel staff and members of the public will not be allowed on site. The Mmabatho Palms premises remains cordoned off and temporarily closed. He says they cannot divulge the outcome of preliminary investigations at this stage.

“We intend to conduct an in-depth investigation. We do not want to leave anything to chance. We do not want to subject ourselves to speculation. We have already started with preliminary investigations. But it would be premature to attribute the fire to one thing or another,” says Asaneng.

On Wednesday morning 8 September, the first legally registered casino in South Africa which is now owned by the Peermont Group, was gutted by a fire. Among the over 60 guests that had to be evacuated from the premises, was the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development, and Land Reform, Zoleka Capa.

She told eNCA, whilst at the scene, that there was no alarm or warning when the fire broke out and as a result, guests had to “self-evacuate”. Peermont Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Nigel Atherton dismissed those allegations in the briefing and said “he doubted their validity” but requested that the outcome of the investigation be waited for.

The fire is not known to have spread to other areas with residents of the nearby Leopard Park Gold Estate telling OFM News they were unaware of the incident until they left for work in the morning, meaning the blaze did not spread to the nearby estate. The extent of the damage incurred is unknown at this stage.

In 2017, the resort underwent an R8 million upgrade to its conference room and the casino area. The upgrades also included the opening of the ‘Moo Bar’, which was meant to appeal to a younger crowd in the North West capital.

Previously known as Mmabatho Sun and Casino, it was built and opened by Sol Kerzner in 1977, and was subsequently acquired by Tusk Resorts in 1997. Peermont Hotels, Resorts, and Casinos acquired the resort in August 2006 and it was rebranded as Mmabatho Palms in June 2009. This is a developing story.

OFM News