When Sun International was granted permission to relocate its struggling Morula Casino from Mabopane to Menlyn in Pretoria, the casino and hospitality group knew that its battle still wasn't over.

The Gauteng Gambling Board may have given the green light to Sun International, but already an application has been lodged in the Pretoria High Court by fourteen interested parties to have the approval for the casino's rezoning withdrawn.

The opposition parties include four churches and six schools, showing the strong condemnation by community groups for having a casino within their midst.

Claims that Authorities were Hoodwinked

The opposition parties also claim that the rezoning approval process was flawed and have appealed the issue with the zoning board.

According to Times Live, the "council's strategic development tribunal was hoodwinked into believing no objections were received on Menlyn Maine Investment Holdings' rezoning application for the casino."

"Duncan Baker, the ward councillor of the area where Menlyn Maine Investment Holdings plans to construct the R3 billion casino and hotel development said in his supporting affadavit that affected parties were also kept in the dark that the "amusement park" included a casino," says the Times.

It quotes Baker as saying: "While it is correct that no objections were received, this was ostensibly due to the fact that land use of the development as a casino was not disclosed in the preceding notices in the gazette."

R3bn Casino Complex

At the beginning of August, Sun International was granted permission to build a R3 billion casino complex in Menlyn, which will include a casino, hotel, conference center and indoor facility for concerts.

Sun International will have a management contract for the casino and holds a 74.9 percentage of the development.

Should the group manage to overcome opposition in the legal channels, it predicts that the casino will take around 3 years to complete.