Phumelela Enters Business Rescue

South Africa’s largest horse racing operator, Phumelela Gaming and Leisure, has entered voluntary business rescue to ensure the long-term survival of the company.

Phumelela has not been able to stage race meetings since the end of March due to the lockdown. This has hurt its revenue from racing and betting, the company said in a statement.

“… the best option to ensure the long-term survival of the company and the sport of horse racing, is to implement a business rescue plan,” Phumelela said.

South Africa’s business rescue process, which aims to shield a business from the demands of its creditors while an independent advisor attempts to turn it around, borrows from U.S., British, Canadian and Australian law.

But business rescue is uniquely South African in terms of its timetable, ranking of preference among stakeholders and the involvement of labour.

On March 26, President Cyril Ramaphosa imposed a five-week lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus. Non-essential activities including sports and entertainment were forced to suspend operations.

Most of the restrictions on leisure, entertainment or anything that requires mass gathering are still in place under a partial lifting of lockdown that was put in place from May 1.

National Horseracing Authority CEO, Vee Moodley, said the industry, “which is on the verge of collapse,” is asking the government to give it permission to resume controlled closed horse racing during level 4 lockdown restriction in order to save the majority of the 60,000 jobs.