PIGG’S PEAK HOTEL ABORTS BIG DEAL

PIGG’S PEAK – A deal to engage BON Hotels to operate Pigg’s Peak Hotel has fallen through.

When the Ministry of Finance’s Public Enterprise Unit (PEU) compiled its June 31, 2020 report, the Times SUNDAY has learnt that negotiations between Pigg’s Peak Hotel and Casino (PPHC) and BON Hotels had been concluded. The deal only awaited the approval of SCOPE (Cabinet Standing Committee on Public Enterprises). However, Moses Vilakati, the Minister of Tourism and Environmental Affairs, confirmed in an interview on Friday that the deal failed at the last stages of negotiations. “There were certain formalities that Pigg’s Peak Hotel and Casino and BON Hotels could not agree on and I can safely say that the deal has been aborted despite the fact that the negotiations had covered 90 per cent of the focused areas,” said the minister. The Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Affairs is responsible for the PPHC affairs.  

A consolidated quarterly report for the period ended June 31, 2020, released by the PEU states that the Board of directors for PPHC had identified BON Hotels and Bamba the Number (Pty) Ltd to run the hotel and casino. PPHC is owned by government. BON Hotels is one of the leading international hospitality companies in Africa. Its head office is in Century City, Johannesburg, South Africa. The company is now awaiting SCOPE approval for it to officially take over the management of the facility. It must be said that the PPHC Board of directors has already recommended the company to SCOPE. SCOPE means the Cabinet Standing Committee on Public Enterprises. Bon Hotels is also present in Nigeria and Ethiopia. Busangani Mkhaliphi, the Director of PEU, mentioned in the quarterly report that the Board of directors should be recommended for identifying the operator.

The last operator to be in charge of the government facility was Orion Hotels and Resort (Pty) Ltd, which was ordered by the High Court of Eswatini to pay rent accrued from March 2011 to January 2012, which has escalated to E2 400 819.46 when Judge Nkululeko Hlophe delivered judgment on the matter on March 1, 2012.  Pigg’s Peak Hotel had leased out the hotel facility to Orion Hotels for 17 years. It had occupied the facility for nine years paying rentals. Pigg’s Peak Hotels told the High Court that it entered into a written lease agreement with Orion Hotels on December 1, 2005  for the occupation of the facility for monthly rentals of E100 000. Another hotel company that managed Pigg’s Peak Hotel is Protea.
In December 2019, it was announced that ONOMO Hotels had acquired BON Hotels.

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