Most of those who play Lotto can't afford to

Published Jun 3, 2003

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More than 70 percent of South Africans, rich and poor, take their chances on the national lottery, spending a staggering R80-million a week.

Ticket sales in the last 12 months topped R4,2-billion, almost half South Africa's total education budget for last year.

The latest statistics are included in an update to Landscape: The Changing Face Of South Africa, an ongoing research project of the Unilever Institute of Strategic Marketing, based at the University of Cape Town.

According to institute director John Simpson, playing the lottery forms the biggest component of gambling in South Africa, seven times greater than the lottery proportion in other countries.

The research reveals that less than 25 percent of South Africans gamble at casinos or bet on horses.

"Slowly but surely lottery spend is increasing, with the lower-income levels in society making big sacrifices to play," said Simpson on Monday. About 43 percent of players earn less than R2 000 a month and a quarter are unemployed.

Most players say they would have spent the money on household necessities if they had not spent it on gambling.

"All those who buy tickets say they 'play' the lotto. It's a game, a fantasy. And the poorer you are, the more you believe your only chance of getting rich is through the lotto," said Simpson.

Of the 70 percent who play either occasionally or regularly, 60 percent play on both Wednesdays and Saturdays. About 45 percent of all adults are regular players.

Average spend per draw in the last 12 months was R7,50 and a month R84. One in 10 gamblers spent more than R150 a month.

"However, the amount spent each week increases dramatically during rollover periods," said Simpson.

"It appears that those who usually spend R20 will spend up to R200 on a big rollover. South African Breweries actually notices a decline in beer sales during such times," he said.

The research also revealed that the number of adult cellphone users - one in three now owns a cellphone - has exceeded 14 million, and may top 21 million by 2006.

Although growth in the upper-income group was nearing saturation, there were 9 000 new subscribers a day, of which more than 80 percent were pre-paid.

Encouraging detail emanating from the research was that the HIV and Aids epidemic was considered to be entering its "mature phase". According to Simpson, the rate of new HIV infections has already peaked.

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