With effect from 1 September, Henry Tshegetso Boekhouer has found the role of General Manager at The Wild Coast Sun, replacing Peter Tshidi who has relocated to Sun International’s head office in Johannesburg.
The local community first got to know Boekhouer in 2018, when he first joined the resort as the Gaming Manager. Even after leaving the Sun International group to join Peermont, Boekhouer continued to return to the Wild Coast Sun, “It’s Sun City by the sea and my favourite holiday destination, so now every day feels like a holiday for me.”
Boekhouer began his career at Sun International in 2000, a testament to decades of employee loyalty to the gaming, hospitality, and entertainment company. Like many people in the local gaming and hospitality industry, his story begins at Sun City, but unusually, his transition into the industry came via the field of engineering.
“I used to work for an electrical engineering company where I had a stable and well-paid, nine to five job. It wasn’t until I was in an accident that I began to question my career and my busy urban lifestyle. My salary dropped by half when I joined Sun City, and suddenly I was working 24/7, but I loved it and no two days were ever the same. Also, I didn’t need my huge salary while working at Sun City because I lived on the complex, so all my needs were taken care of. I didn’t even need a car as I could walk to work. It paid off because soon I was promoted, and my salary increased and could afford the lifestyle my family and friends deserved.
“Engineering is very black and white. It’s either on or it’s off, it’s right or it’s wrong. But gaming and hospitality is a lot more nuanced. I had to adopt a ‘can-do’ attitude. I also learnt that guests come first, and winning an argument with a customer is actually a loss because they simply won’t come back.”
While still at Sun City, Boekhouer entered into a two-year course to fast-track his career. After leaving Sun City he joined the Carousel Casino as the Assistant Slots Manager, before being promoted to Operations Manager and learning about the hospitality side of the business, before moving to Flamingo Casino and finally Wild Coast Sun as their Gaming Manager. He is especially grateful to mentors such Riaan Stoltz (Group Gaming and Innovation), Harry Swart at the Carousel (now GM at The Maslow Sandton) and Graham Wood at Sun City (now Sun International’s Chief Operating Officer).
At the Peermont Group, Boekhouer was honoured to be given the responsibility of running Thaba Moshate and Rio Casino as General Manager. “I’m very grateful to the Peermont Group and the CEO Nigel Atherton for the opportunity to enhance my business management skills through the valuable experience of managing two of their properties.”
His vision for the resort is to make the community feel that they are part of the business, to knit them into the fabric of the property and to give them a sense of pride and ownership in the resort. In particular, he will lead the transformation plan to build a solid, sustainable operation that can support the transformation and development of local communities and businesses. In addition, an important part of the plan is to ensure there is high customer satisfaction.
Boekhouer says that the Wild Coast Sun was always one of his dream jobs, “when I first worked at the resort, I got to know everyone in the community. I’ve remained in touch with them so now it feels as though I’m coming home. My door is always open so let’s take it to the next level.”
“I will also try live up to my personal motto which is ‘to leave everything I touch better than I found it.”
Boekhouer has a Diploma in Electrical Engineering through the Wits Technikon ( now University of Johannesburg), as well as multiple certifications in various business programmes with GIBS, Wits Business School and the University of Stellenbosch.
