THE eThekwini Municipality today announced the Southern Sun Hotel Group as the preferred bidder for the lease and redevelopment of the Elangeni and Maharani hotels for a period of 50 years.

The City announced that the redevelopment entailed an estimated capital investment of R1 billion, including the refurbishment of the Elangeni and Maharani hotels as well as the Garden Court South Beach and The Edward hotels which are also owned by Southern Sun. In addition, a fund of R5 million will be made available to restore and maintain the Sunken Gardens, a historically significant park owned by the municipality on the beachfront in front of the hotels.

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The Southern Sun Elangeni and Maharani reportedly employs approximately 450 employees, and all those jobs will be retained with a further 200 jobs created during the refurbishment phase.

“We wish to also thank Southern Sun for staying the course with our municipality despite the numerous challenges experienced by our province and particularly the hospitality industry over recent years, which includes the Covid-19 pandemic, the devastating floods and July civil unrest. Southern Sun has demonstrated its commitment to both transformation and inclusive economic development of this important City asset. We are particularly excited about the significant economic impact and job creation that the redevelopment brings for our City,” said Mayor Xaba.

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Marcel von Aulock, the CEO of Southern Sun, stated that the Group was delighted that the City has managed and concluded the process for the selection of a preferred bidder for these iconic properties which are vital to the long-term maintenance and rejuvenation of the Durban Beachfront.

“Southern Sun has a long history of operating on the beachfront and the area is very much part of our DNA with some of the best hoteliers South Africa has produced developing their careers at these hotels. We remain committed to seeing Durban unlock its full potential as a premier leisure, conference and sporting destination for South Africa and look forward to working with the eThekwini Municipality,” said Marcel von Aulock, CEO of Southern Sun.

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