JUSTIN ARENSTEIN, Nelspruit | Monday
MPUMALANGA’s chief spin-doctor, Joy Letlonkane, has been banned from Tsogo Sun’s Emnotweni Casino in Nelspruit after she was caught cheating.
Letlonkane, who is chief representative and director of Mpumalanga’s communications department, was banned from the casino for six months just after Christmas when surveillance cameras caught her cheating at a game of five-hand poker.
She has dodged media queries on the incident over the past six weeks, insisting they were part of a malicious smear campaign. Premier Ndaweni Mahlangu’s special adviser and representative Sefako Nyaka also personally intervened and attempted to convince editors to go easy on Letlonkane.
She finally conceded on March 9, however, that she had been banned and would be unable to view a copy of the security video at Emnotweni Casino for fear that security officials “accuse me of breaking [their] banning order”.
She declined to comment further and accused journalists of bad faith for pursuing the story.
Letlonkane also last week lodged a formal complaint against Emnotweni Casino with Mpumalanga’s Gaming Board (MGB) alleging that she was wrongly accused and had as a result been defamed.
“Joy lodged her complaint last week, and I have ordered our gaming control manager to fast-track the probe because the evidence should be pretty clearcut,” said MGB chief executive Barry Mashego.
Eyewitnesses report that Letlonkane and local attorney Joseph Sithole tried to double their bets behind a croupier’s back during a five-hand poker game. The two allegedly doubled their chips on the table after realising they had been dealt winning hands.
The casino’s security cameras and a floor supervisor both picked up on the incident, however, and reported the cheating to casino management. Sithole fled the casino, but Letlonkane agreed to meet with the floor manager. She was shown video proof of the incident and formally banned from the casino.
Sithole later wandered back into the popular casino, and was immediately marched to the manager’s office, where he was also formally banned. Sithole failed to return calls on the issue this week.
Letlonkane declined to answer written questions explaining how the banning affected her credibility as Mpumalanga’s chief representative and public relations officer. – African Eye News Service