Sun International brand hotels in Kensington, Johannesburg, South Africa

About Sun International Kensington

Sun International Hotels Ltd is a hotel management group and casino operator in South Africa. It currently has 19 properties across 20 destinations in four countries. The most popular of its properties is the Rustenburg-based Sun City where Miss South Africa pageant is usually held.  The company is headquartered in the Bahamas, which is home to the largest island resort in the world – the Paradise Island. It owns 70% of this resort. 

Sol Kerzner, a South African businessman, founded the hotel chain, then known as Southern Sun Hotel Company, in 1969 with South African Breweries. After expanding into 35 hotels with a total net income of $35m in 1983, interests in Southern Sun Hotels were split into two – Sun International and Southern Sun. The former kept all the casino properties in South Africa’s designated ‘independent homelands’ and had MrKerzner as its head. The latter, on the other hand, focused on the hotel market. 

Sun International Hotels Ltd., was formed in 2004 after Kersaf Investments gradually merged with Sun International. Kersaf, which was formerly engaged in entertainment and retail markets, has been acquiring minority interests in Sun International since 1994 until its hotel and casino interests flourished. It started to dispose of its other investments to buy more stakes in Sun International.