Fewer South Africans are gambling in casinos, but electronic sports betting is on the increase.
Briefing the Western Cape legislature's standing committee on finance, the Western Cape Gambling and Racing Board (WCGRB) said while fewer people were gambling in casinos, their revenues had increased year-on-year.
The board's chief executive officer, Primo Abrahams, said nationally “gross gaming revenues” were expected to be R18.2 billion for the first quarter of this year.
While casinos had in 2010 contributed to the bulk of revenues at 84.4%, this figure had declined steadily to 66.8% at the end of March.
Sports betting now contributes 18.6% of gaming revenues, limited payout machines just under 10% and bingo halls at 4.7%.
“This is based on facts that the younger generation are not so (much) interested in a brick-and-mortar environment, but rather the electronic environment for sports betting, which is on the increase,” Abrahams told the committee.
But when it comes to a form of gambling which has the highest participation among South Africans, the national lottery at 81.3% beats illegal gambling like fafi at 27% with only 14% of the population spending their money in established casinos.
South Africans who gambled for the first time also overwhelmingly chose the national lottery at 76.2%, with horse racing at 15.3% followed by licensed casinos at 14.5%.
According to the WCGRB, the contribution of gambling to the gross domestic product is down from 0.90% in 2005 to 0.81%.
The “propensity to gamble” household income has decreased more than a percent from 1.70% in 2005 to 0.97% in 2016.
Collectively revenues at the five casinos in the
Western Cape have increased from R2.8bn in 2014 to R3.1bn in 2016.
The ANC's Carol Beerwinkel questioned the figures, saying there was a “dis-juncture” with the information presented by the board, and instead of percentages she wanted to see actual figures.
“You get the impression that gambling has decreased, fewer people are gambling but casinos are making more money.
"So, what's the correlation here?”
Pierre Uys, also from the ANC, expressed his exasperation, saying that he thought the briefing would focus on the sustainability of the Western Cape's five casinos.
“I'm very concerned if you call this a sustainability report.
"You can't just say casinos are sustainable if you don't compare the different casinos, the five in the Western Cape to each other.
“One might be on the verge of collapse on the Western Coast or the southern Cape, or wherever, and one in the (Cape Town) metro might be at 99% and still we don't understand what is the situation between the different casinos,” added Uys.