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During the latter half of the twentieth
century, state policy towards indigenous peoples
in both
countries, though originating from different
sources, converged to one of
“self-determination.” And in
each case gambling emerged as an acceptable tool
of native development. In response to a
deterioration
in the ability of the pre-capitalist social
structures in the Bantustans to support a class
of wage-laborers,
South African racial policy during the
mid-twentieth century shifted towards one of
separate development
(Apartheid) for the reserves.7 One of a series
of measures passed under the rubric of self-sufficie
ncy and
designed to attract capital to the Bantustans
was Act 21 of 1971 (the Self Governing
Territories
Constitution Act), which allowed the homelands
to draft and enforce their own laws regarding
gambling
(gambling in South Africa proper was prohibited
in the 1965 Gambling Act [Brand 1999]). The
leaders
of Transkei, Bopthutaswana, Ciskei and Venda all
proceeded to legalize casinos in their
territories
(Hughey and Mobilia, 1997).
Initially, two firms—Holiday Inn and Southern
Sun (a subsidiary of South African Breweries)—
competed to negotiate casino contracts with
Bantustan governments. In 1983, however, Sol
Kerzner, a
former 10% shareholder in Southern Sun, founded
a new firm, Sun International (Baskin 1983).
Through
a series of highly informal deals negotiated
between Kerzner himself and local leaders, Sun
International
by the early 1990’s possessed all 18 homeland
casino licenses (Lee 2000). By agreeing to a
high taxation
rate on casino profits, Kerzner not only secured
a monopoly for his firm but was allowed to
self-regulate
operations (homeland governments’ lack of
capital to effectively monitor and audit casino
operations was
obviously a major factor in these arrangements).
The homeland casinos were, overall, successful.
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