Scratchy Big

What is Scratchy Big?

Group income reached R6.58 billion ($411.9 million) across the first half of the year when excluding the Table Bay Hotel (TBH), which the company is running under a management agreement with IHG.

Sun International’s adjusted EBITDA (excluding TBH) edged up 2% to R1.59 billion in H1. Revenue growth was at the “upper end of expectations”.

H1 growth was driven by Sun International’s online division, with revenue from SunBet surging 35.5% year-on-year to R1.18 billion.

What is Scratchy Big?

Raja’s appetite for high-stakes gambling predates his emergence as a prominent property lender. The Times reported last month that he was declared bankrupt in March 2005 with debts totaling around £350,000 ($470,000), a portion of which was owed to casino operators.

His bankruptcy was discharged a year later, though he remained subject to bankruptcy restrictions until March 2009. MFS was incorporated in November 2006 by Pratibha Dewan, who later became Raja’s wife.

Raja, who has publicly described himself as the company’s founder, did not formally become a registered director until 2017.

What is Scratchy Big?

In January 2024, before locally licensed online operators were active, the Authority said it had recorded about 510,000 monthly cases of Botswanans participating in illegal online gambling.

Sunbet Botswana launched its online sports-betting platform in February 2025 and reported a 4,700% increase in sign-ups during its first month. As this was an operator-reported figure, the company did not publicly disclose the comparison baseline or absolute number of registrations.

The Authority said licensed operators accepted P150 million in wagers in March 2025, paid P135 million in winnings and generated P15 million in gross gambling revenue. It also estimated that only about 40% of Botswana’s estimated 550,000 active bettors were using licensed local operators, leaving a substantial share of demand with unregulated platforms.