{"id":872020,"date":"2026-08-27T10:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T08:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=872020"},"modified":"2026-08-27T11:01:30","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T09:01:30","slug":"owner-of-iconic-warmbaths-resort-being-sold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/872020\/owner-of-iconic-warmbaths-resort-being-sold\/","title":{"rendered":"Warmbaths owner being sold"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Forever Resorts South Africa is being acquired by Benus Trade and Invest, with the purchase being approved by the Competition Commission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Forever Resorts owns several luxury spas and getaway locations around South Africa, including the iconic Warmbaths resort in Limpopo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The resort is located in Bela Bela, north of Gauteng, and is known for its easy accessibility as an escape from city life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It got its name from the natural hot springs found in Bela Bela, which can produce up to 22,000 litres of water per hour at 53 degrees Celcius.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Warmbaths features several accommodation options, including chalets and lodges that can accommodate any number of guests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The prices depend on the time of year, with a two-bedroom chalet costing up to R3,470 per night during the peak season and dropping to R1,660 during the low season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The property also has a hotel, where a two-sleeper room costs between R2,290 and R3,470 depending on the season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Along with several accommodation options, the resort is open to day visitors on specific dates, with prices varying by season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The resort has several luxury amenities, including a hydro and spa, children’s play areas, and a conference centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its children’s play areas are particularly notable, with water slides and other activities offered to kids at the resort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are also several paid adventure activities offered at the resort, such as ziplining, trampolining, and ATV rides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Warmbaths is arguably the best-known asset in its portfolio, Forever Resorts owns nine resort properties, along with three lodges and several other properties scattered around the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its resorts are located in scenic areas, away from large cities, such as Plettenberg Bay or near the Gariep Dam in the Free State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The out-of-the-way locations also make the resorts suitable for eco-tourism, with many facilitating activities such as game drives and camping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The resorts are also often equipped with various facilities, such as conference centres and wedding venues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Forever Resorts sold<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The Competition Commission recently approved the sale of Forever Resorts to Benus Trade and Invest without conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The Commission has recommended that the Tribunal approve the proposed transactions where Benus intends to acquire Forever Resorts SA, without conditions,” it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eight resorts currently owned by Forever Resorts were previously owned by Aventura, a state-owned company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aventura sold these properties to Forever Siyonwaba Resorts in 2003, which then transferred the ownership to Forever Resorts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ultimately, Aventura was liquidated, with the majority of its properties taken over by Forever Resorts in 2003.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Benus is a small company with little online presence, and shares directors with Community Investment Holdings (CIH).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Competition Commission said Benus is “a conglomerate operating in various markets including healthcare, information, communication and technology, power and energy, mining, logistics and infrastructure.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The Commission is of the view that the proposed transaction is unlikely to substantially lessen or prevent competition in any market.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The proposed transaction does not raise significant public interest concerns.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The acquisition was part of several other transactions approved by the commission, including Resilient purchasing Mams Mall and the sale of the Bloed Street Mall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The purpose of the commission approving these transactions is to ensure that businesses do not form monopolies or have unfair control over a particular market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, large mergers and acquisitions are reviewed by the commission and may be denied if they could harm or deter other businesses in a similar industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The commission primarily enforces the Competition Act, which sets out the rules to ensure a fair and accessible business environment in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photos of Forever Resorts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The Competition Commission has approved the sale of Forever Resorts to Benus Trade and Invest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":872066,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2092892643801878751","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2187985902021809","_sma_instagram_post_id":"18004950647779011","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[26285,1516,26284],"class_list":["post-872020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-benus-invest-and-trade","tag-competition-commission","tag-forever-resorts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=872020"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872020\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":872317,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872020\/revisions\/872317"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/872066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=872020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=872020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=872020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}