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August 6 - At the beginning of this month, 47 year old Rian du Plessis took
over the position as Chief Executive Officer of Phumelela, and also
serves as CEO of the company's international arm, Phumelela Gold Enterprises.
Du Plessis, who plans to run the operation from his UK base, took over the
job from Jim Tennant who has agreed to stay with the company until the end of
this year at least to assist with the transfer of duties. David Attenborough
will serve as Phumelela's CEO of South African operations.
In an interview given to the Racing Association recently, Du Plessis
said that he had been approached by the company's Remuneration Committee
directly about taking up the position, and he accepted after being attracted to
the potential of seeing Phumelela expand on an international scale.
Du Plessis said he was confident that the company would be able to break into
the international arena. "We are leaders in exotic tote betting, co-mingling and
simulcasting," he explained, "and believe we have much to offer the larger
racing/betting jurisdictions."
The new CEO reacted on charges that Phumelela cares more about its
shareholders and doesn't put enough back into the local horseracing industry.
"Being a public company, Phumelela's primary primary responsibility is naturally
towards its shareholders," said Du Plessis. "However it would be naive to
believe that Phumelela could be successful at the expense of the South African
horseracing community. For Phumelela to be successful in the long term we need a
healthy and prosperous horseracing community and we are working closely with the
Racing Association to achieve that."
Du Plessis said that he expects the sports betting industry to have to fight
hard to maintain its position in a growing South African gambling market.
"Sports betting will in future compete heavily for the punter's rand," he said.
"That is why we have invested in Soccer 6 and will explore future sports betting
opportunities both locally and abroad."
Read more South African horse racing news right here.
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