A major row has erupted in the Pretoria High Court between former comrades over the allocation of a R300 million contract for the management of some 50 000 gambling machines which are going to be located in numerous entertainment venues outside casinos.

The court action could have repercussions in the highest ANC echelons as most of the shareholders involved have links with the party.

On the one side are Zonke Monitoring Systems, headed by former ANC politician and businessman Tokyo Sexwale, the Women's Development Bank (WDB), chaired by President Thabo Mbeki's wife Zanele, the influential Kagiso Trust, and an interest group of former MK soldiers.

On the other side is the Malini consortium, which lost the tender to Zonke and is now contesting the issue in court. Shabir Shaik, a personal financial adviser to Deputy President Jacob Zuma and a role player in the arms deal controversy, is the chairperson of Nkobi Holdings and the chief player in Malini.

In court documents handed to the Pretoria High Court on Wednesday, Malini requested an interdict to declare the allocation of the contract to Zonke null and void on the grounds that Malini is supported by a better technical system.

Malini also accused the gambling board of dereliction of duty in the allocation process by not investigating examples of certain systems used overseas. Malini's lawyers said they hoped the case would be heard on Tuesday or Wednesday and are preparing a final answering affidavit to the gambling board's documents.

In another development, Malini's technical partner, International Games Trust (IGT), yesterday confirmed it would abide by the gambling board's decision and that it had no part in Malini's appeal.

Gambling board chairperson Chris Fismer said the allocation process was fair and unbiased. In addition, auditing firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers monitored the process.

``I'm not worried about the court appeal. It is merely a matter of sour grapes on the loser's side,'' he said.

He said both applicants complied with the necessary criteria to get through to the final round. But a decision had to be made, and Zonke's business plan and technical system, supported by computer giant IBM, was the stronger candidate.

Regarding Zanele Mbeki's presence and the possibility that certain highly-placed people could seem to be unlawfully favoured, Fismer defended the decision by pointing out that all possible irregularities and establishments were thoroughly investigated.

Mbeki was simply the chairperson of WDB's management and would in no way personally gain from profit-sharing, he added.

With acknowledgements to Maphamola Lebelo and City Press.