| There
have been no small reactions to the KwaZulu-Natal Gambling Board’s
decision to issue “route and site” licenses for limited payout slot
machines. According to the National Council on Problem Gambling, –
Gamhelp – South Africa is ignoring international trends by allowing
pubs to offer, what they call the highly-addictive ‘crack of
cocaine’ (the slot machine).
Four operators will be
granted the route licenses, giving them legal permission to operate
1,000 limited payout slot machines.
Club and bar owners will be granted site licenses that allow them to
carry a maximum of five slot machines in their establishments.
A lawsuit suspended action on issuing these licenses by two years.
A certain company took the board to court on claims that it had a
valid contract to operate the central monitoring system for the
province. Unfortunately for the company the case did not succeed.
The provincial government chose to use the national government
monitoring system.
The board is
enthusiastic about what they call an exciting new industry and
promise to permanently cease illegal gambling. However, not
everyone is as positive about the situation.
The purpose of Gamhelp
is to aid problem gamblers and their families. Gamhelp director,
Raj Govender, claims his organization, regretfully, was correct in
its prediction of the resulting issues that would stem from building
casinos next to poverty stricken areas of Phoenix and KwaMashu.
Govender had a mouthful
to say on the topic. “Most first-world countries are taking a
serious look at limited payout machines and it seems that in South
Africa we are going backwards. Slots as they are commonly known,
are the crack of cocaine. They are highly addictive.”
“South Carolina got rid
of them and reduced the number of problem gamblers by 85 percent and
crime dropped by 40 percent,” continued Govender. “North Carolina
has also got rid of them, as has Norway. Russia is on the verge of
it. The Swiss banned them from bars a few years ago.”
Govender even went so far as to draw parallels between South
Africa’s annual 80 billion rands fraud problem and problem
gambling. “While the owners of the machines smile all the way to
the bank, there are just too many victims and the social cost -- in
the form of lost revenue, divorce, jail and even suicide -- is
enormous. Just because we have moved from an illegal situation to a
legal one doesn't mean the problems aren't still there,” he said.
The province, Govender points out, already has five casinos, sports
betting, horseracing, a lottery, and may soon have bingo. There is
no need for more gambling options like slot machines..
“We need a strong person
from the government to be brave and speak out against those who are
turning our people into a nation of gamblers. The gambling industry
does not sell bread and milk to make its daily targets. It makes
money because other people lose theirs,” Govender protests.
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