Gambling, liquor boards merger plan

PLANS are afoot to merge the Eastern Cape gambling and liquor boards, with Finance MEC Sakhumzi Somyo announcing that discussions were at an advanced stage.

The proposed merger is part of the provincial government’s plans to save money by rationalising public entities.

Bhisho is also looking at combining the Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC) and the Eastern Cape Rural Development Agency (ECRDA) with the hope of streamlining development projects for the province.

Somyo said the department was investigating the best model to use and discussed rationalisation plans during a closed media session.

“Taking the two entities, the liquor board and the gambling board, both of them are regulatory in nature [so it is] easy to have them combined.

“Currently, we are finalising the modality. We have gone to provinces that have done so, visited them and seen how they work practically,” he said.

“We are closer to the finalisation, the two are going to be somewhat unified.”

The idea is to have a single board and a senior management team in charge of regulating liquor and gambling.

This is expected to save up to R3-million per merger.

The ECRDA works as a hub for upcoming farmers and provides funding for entrepreneurs in the agricultural sector, while the ECDC sources money that goes towards economic development in the province.

Somyo did not provide details as to how the merger would work.

Eastern Cape Gambling and Betting Board spokesman Mgwebi Msiya said the merger would make sense.

“The rationale is to save money. The gambling and liquor board both perform regulatory functions, therefore a merger would make sense.”

Msiya, however, said the details of exactly when it would all come to fruition were yet to be communicated.

The gambling and liquor board both perform regulatory functions