Nompumelelo Magwaza
The casino industry’s gross revenue had increased 5 percent year on year to R17.14 billion for the year to March last year, the Casino Association of SA (Casa) announced this week.
Gauteng remained the largest contributor at 41 percent followed by KwaZulu-Natal at 19 percent.
The annual casino entertainment survey released on Wednesday shows the industry has paid R4.5bn in taxes.
Casa chief executive Derek Auret warned that the government should approach the imposition of additional regulatory restrictions with caution, given the industry’s contribution to tax revenue.
He said this was in respect of new taxes, which were bound to have a negative impact on casino turnover and therefore on the tax payable to the provincial and national governments and on jobs as well. Casinos across the country employ about 52 000 people.
Jabu Mabuza, the chairman of the association, said casino owners were concerned that when the government was confronted by popular misgivings about the negative social impact of gambling behaviour, the first reaction was to increase intervention, and implement greater control and stricter regulations.
Casino gambling remained the most popular form of gaming and accounted for R14bn of the industry’s income, although the study revealed that gamblers had been restrained by high levels of household debt and diminished disposable income last year.
“The satisfactory macro-economic stability on which we depend now appears at risk. There are signs that domestic inflation has been creeping upwards, driven by unsuitable wage settlements in the public sector, increased property rates and utility costs, and deteriorating basic services such as water and electricity,” Auret said.
The consumer price index posted annual increases of 6.1 percent in November and December.
The survey further shows that gamblers indicated they planned to spend R600 or less on each visit to the casino, with the amount including the cost of food, entertainment, movies and gaming.
With regards to gambling frequency, 23 percent visited a casino once a month while 38 percent visited once a week.
The study also showed that 55 percent of the 5 233 gamblers surveyed played the national lottery.
Only 1 percent of gamblers lived in an informal settlement, while 82 percent lived in a house. In addition, 66 percent used their own transport to travel to casinos.
Casa added that 79 percent of respondents were aware of the National Responsible Gambling Programme, with the Western Cape having the highest awareness.