FRIDAY, 8.30AM
SUN International chairman Sol Kerzner told a New Jesey gambling commission that the R2-million payment to former Transkei prime minister George Matanzima was a mistake.
Kerzner said he had foolishly passed on a bank account number from the Transkei Development Corporation to a lawyer after Matanzima had made it clear that he expected a substantial payment for a licence. But bribery had never been his intention.
Kerzner is appearing before the New Jersey Casino Control Commission in bid to obtain his second US casino licence, for a $300 million hotel in Atlantic City. His star witness in his effort to clear his name of bribe allegations was the policeman who investigated the Matanzima bribery affair, Captain Andre Heunis. Heunis told the investigation that he had recommended over a year ago to the attorney general that there was no case against Kerzner.
But Kerzner’s smooth ride before the commission ran into unexpected trouble when two South African businessmen who ran a rival Transkei gaming business, sent documents to the commission. The two directors of Transgames, which Kerzner bought out in 1986 to ensure his monopoly over gaming in the Transkei, say they were never fully paid out. They also say their reputations were ruined as a result of the Matanzima payment, which was laundered through their former company.