Sun City is a luxury resort and casino, situated in the North West Province of South Africa. It is located between the Elands River and the Pilanesberg, about two hours' drive from Johannesburg, near the city of Rustenburg.
Sun City was developed by the Sun International group. It was officially opened on 7 December 1979; at the time it was located in the Bantustan of Bophuthatswana.
As Bophuthatswana had been declared an independent state by South Africa's apartheid government (although unrecognized as such by any other country), it could provide entertainment such as gambling and topless revue shows which were banned in South Africa. These factors, as well as its relatively close location to the large metropolitan areas of Pretoria and Johannesburg, ensured that Sun City soon became a popular holiday and weekend destination.
Unfortunately there was nothing like that when we visited Sun City and above all our “barbed wire” followed us everywhere we went and Helder and I had no chance of enjoying some of the most un-orthodox entertainment.
The United Nations imposed a cultural boycott on South Africa in condemnation of apartheid. Despite this, many famous performers chose to flout the boycott and perform at the venue, such as the Beach Boys, Linda Ronstadt, Cher, Millie Jackson, Liza Minnelli, Frank Sinatra (1981), Paul Anka, Status Quo, Rod Stewart (July 1983) and Elton John(October 1983). In 2014, the movie Blended, with Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler, premiered after being filmed mostly at the resort.
The resort has four hotels: Sun City Hotel, Cascades Hotel, The Cabanas and the Palace of the Lost City.
To open our appetite before the Kruger Park trip we spent a day in Sun City. What a beautiful place it is!
