Durban - Concerned about the implications of electronic bingo terminals being installed at shopping centres in the province, more than 50 protesters gathered outside the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Thursday.
The People’s Forum Against EBTs has joined forces with Premier Senzo Mchunu and the MEC for Finance, Belinda Scott, to try to overturn licences granted to bingo hall operators. The MEC had also suspended the nine gambling board members after some had met secretly and granted the licences.
At the end of that meeting, 650 electronic bingo machines were licensed. Letters were sent to the operators confirming their approval by the board’s acting chief executive, Bheki Radebe. The letters were drawn up before the meeting ended and were sent immediately afterwards.
The affected venues included The Pavilion, Gateway shopping centre, South Coast Mall, Galleria, and Brookside Mall in Pietermaritzburg.
No decision was made on Thursday, as the main application – to scrap the gambling board’s decision to grant the licences – and a counter-application brought by the bingo operators to overturn Scott’s decision to suspend the board, were both adjourned to April.
Prominent advocate Barry Roux’s presence – to represent the gambling board – drew interest from candidate attorneys, who whispered to each other about Roux having represented paralympian Oscar Pistorius. While Roux drew attention inside court, the protesters turned heads outside.
Brandon Pillay, of The People’s Forum Against EBTs, said if the machines were allowed at shopping malls, it would result in more poverty and crime.
“The gambling industry is already saturated,” he said.
The chairman of Sibaya Casino, Durban tycoon Vivian Reddy, was also present in court. He said billions had been spent by casinos to operate while the bingo operators could spend much less, which was unfair.
Bingo operators Goldrush and Galaxy Bingo said they stood to lose millions if the licences were revoked.
Goldrush’s Percy Shabalala said they had incurred huge costs in anticipation of the roll-out of machines and that construction was already under way in four outlets. “Construction and site fit-out comes to about R15 million. With the costs of gaming equipment, a modest site could attract capital investment of between R30m and R50m per site,” he said.
Shabalala also warned of potential job losses.
Scott said she had started a review of existing legislation to control the proliferation of electronic bingo terminals in public areas like shopping centres, and in close proximity to children and disadvantaged communities. Legislation was being prepared to provide for this. She had formally asked the board not to extend the existing licence conditions of bingo operators until the review of the Gaming and Betting Regulations and the KwaZulu-Natal Gaming and Betting Tax Act was finalised by her office. However, the board went against this and granted the licences.
She said the decision by the board was irregular and unlawful.
The Mercury