South Africa’s most iconic luxury resort coming back to life 

Sun City is being brought back to life as South Africa’s premier luxury resort through a R400 million investment from its owner, Sun International. 

The company has invested heavily in revamping the Palace and the Sun City Hotel to attract more affluent clients to the resort in the North-West Province. 

This investment appears to be paying off, with it reversing years of flatlining revenue growth and increased pressure on its operating profit. 

Opened in 1979 by renowned businessman Sol Kerzner, Sun City is arguably the most ambitious hospitality investment ever undertaken in South Africa. 

Prior to opening Sun City, Kerzner had made a name for himself by establishing Southern Sun as a hotel chain across South Africa. The company operated 30 luxury hotels with over 7,000 rooms by the 1980s. 

Kerzner saw an opportunity, on the back of this success, to develop a secluded, luxury resort near the Pilanesberg National Park, known as Sun City. 

Developed over a decade, the resort includes four hotels, a man-made lake, two Gary Player-designed championship golf courses, and an entertainment centre with an indoor 6,000-seat multi-purpose arena.

Frank Sinatra headlined the extravagant launch in 1979, with Sun City becoming known as a secluded playground for the rich and famous. 

The cherry on top was the opening of The Palace of the Lost City, which defined opulence and luxury in South Africa alongside the Carlton Hotel in Johannesburg. 

Taking 28 months to build, The Palace cost R830 million to construct in 1992. The hotel’s gardens alone cost R25 million and feature over 1.6 million plants. 

Over the years, The Palace of the Lost City hosted numerous celebrities and world leaders, including Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, and Nelson Mandela.

While Sun City holds onto some elements of this reputation, the combination of a stagnant economy and the Covid-19 pandemic saw the resort lose some of its shine. 

The resort was also hit with aggressive strike action and labour unrest a decade ago, forcing the company to make big changes at The Palace in particular. 

Sun City bouncing back

Sun International has invested significantly in reviving Sun City’s fortunes, with a specific focus on the Sun City Hotel and The Palace. 

CEO Ulrik Bengtsson, following the company’s latest annual results for 2025, explained to BusinessDay TV where this money has gone and what returns Sun International is seeing on the investment. 

“Sun City, specifically, we put around R400 million into the resort in the last two years to refurbish The Palace and the Sun City Hotel,” Bengtsson said. 

“It is reassuring to see that those investments are starting to show some real results. Sun City performed really well in the second half of the year.” 

Sun International explained that Sun City benefited from a strong increase in gaming and hospitality revenues. 

The resort posted an increase of 9.5% in net gaming wins to R514 million. Sun City’s adjusted earnings remained largely flat at R387 million. 

Historically, gambling was the main drawcard for Sun City, as it was located in Bophuthatswana, one of the few places where gambling was legal at one point.

However, as gambling, particularly online gambling, has boomed in popularity and the rest of the country started to legalise and regulate the activity, the resort had to look elsewhere to drive revenue. 

With gambling becoming legal across South Africa, Sun City lost its competitive edge and the relatively easy cash that was generated through its gambling operations. 

Sun City had to reposition itself as a family hospitality resort and a conference venue, focusing on its other amenities, with gambling limited to the Sun City Hotel. 

This hotel recently introduced the first countertop slots and poker machines at its transformed pool area as part of the R400 million investment in Sun City. 

Bengtsson explained that a revival in Sun International’s land-based casinos also extends to Sun City, with the company outperforming the market. 

“When we did an analysis of our land-based casinos, it turned out that we had some real improvements to do in our operational model,” Bengtsson said. 

“This included how we train our staff and how we run our casino floors. We had to spend more time investing in what I call operational intensity.” 

Bengtsson noted that the broader land-based casino industry saw its revenue decline by 6%, while Sun International’s came down by only 2%. 

Sun International recently appointed Mark Sergeant as its chief operating officer for gaming, with his specific responsibility being land-based casinos within the group. 

Sergeant is a highly experienced executive, having held leadership roles across all spheres of Sun International’s operations.

Apart from working in numerous Sun International divisions, he has also led two of the United Kingdom’s largest casino groups.

As the group managing director at Genting Casinos, he oversaw a portfolio of casinos across the United Kingdom.

He was also responsible for an international casino operation in Cairo, a UK integrated gaming and leisure resort, and two online gaming businesses.