Tourists, resort staff and local suppliers in Bela Bela, Badplaas and other holiday destinations can expect the same facilities and services after Forever Resorts was bought by Benus Trade and Invest, the new owner said.
The announcement came from Forever Resorts in a statement that the deal, approved by the Competition Commission, will be “business as usual” for guests and partners. The company will keep operating under its well-known brand and will continue to run its eight resorts, hotels, lodges and self-catering sites.
Benus Trade and Invest is an investment vehicle linked to Community Investment Holdings (CIH), a 100 % black-owned group founded in 1995 by Prof Anna Mokgokong and Joe Madungandaba. CIH has interests in health, technology, power, mining, logistics and infrastructure. In the statement CIH described itself as the “new custodian” of Forever Resorts, pledging to preserve the heritage of the resorts and keep them accessible to South Africans for generations.
Why the change matters to the local economy
Forever Resorts owns the iconic Warmbaths resort in Bela Bela, a hot-spring destination that can pump up to 22 000 litres of water per hour at 53 °C. The resort draws visitors from Gauteng and beyond, supporting local hotels, restaurants, transport firms and informal traders. A change in ownership could have meant a shift in pricing, staffing or even closure, but the acquiring group has signalled continuity.
Eugene van Jaarsveldt, Managing Director of Forever Resorts, told the media that the transaction will “ensure the group’s continued strategic growth and development” and that guests will “continue enjoying its facilities”. He added that the portfolio of conference, wedding and function venues will remain a core part of operations.
For small-business owners who supply goods or services to the resorts, from laundry contractors to event planners, the assurance of unchanged contracts reduces the risk of sudden revenue loss. It also opens the door to potential new projects, as CIH’s broader network in infrastructure and energy could bring upgrades to water, power or digital services at the sites.
The deal was cleared by the Competition Commission, which monitors mergers to prevent anti-competitive outcomes. The approval suggests regulators see no immediate threat to competition in the hospitality market, but they will continue to watch how the new owner leverages its cross-sector holdings.
While the acquisition does not directly affect most South African SMEs, it illustrates how black-owned investment groups are entering the leisure sector, potentially creating new partnership opportunities for local suppliers and service providers.
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Resort and hospitality acquisitions that explicitly commit to retaining an established local brand name, as opposed to rebranding under the acquirer’s own identity, typically reflect a judgement that the existing name carries enough local goodwill and repeat-visitor loyalty that replacing it would destroy more value than the acquirer’s own brand recognition would add. Warmbaths, now more widely known by its Tswana name Bela-Bela, has operated as a hot springs and resort destination for decades, giving an acquirer a built-in customer base that a brand change could put at risk. The Southern Africa Tourism Services Association’s own industry disclosures track ownership changes across the resort and hospitality sector. For related coverage, see this site’s Retail and Consumer coverage.
Resorts built around natural hot springs face a different competitive dynamic to conventional coastal or safari lodges, since the underlying attraction cannot be replicated by a competitor building a similar property elsewhere, giving an established site like Bela-Bela a durable locational advantage regardless of who owns the operating company.
