Cape Town - The Western Cape Gambling and Racing Board are investigating ways to get younger people to participate in horse betting as the board’s coffers continue to dwindle.
The board’s CEO, Primo Abrahams, revealed in the 2021/2022 annual report that horse betting as a sport had been struggling.
The board has also been criticised by opposition parties in the Western Cape Provincial Parliament for its dependency on state funds.
"Horse racing as a sport has been struggling, both financially and in terms of attracting interest in the sport for betting purposes," Abrahams said.
He said the board had noticed a substantial decline in betting taxes for this contingency over the past few years, both in terms of tote betting (open bets) and fixed odds betting.
"Re-invigoration of horse racing as a sport is necessary to make it more appealing to the younger generation, which could assist in bringing a turnaround in this industry."
Reporting on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the board’s coffers, Abrahams reported that R777m in gambling taxes had been collected, compared to R481m collected in the previous financial year.
These were provincial taxes in casinos, horse racing, and betting, as well as limited payout machines.
Meanwhile, the board is also facing a number of risks, including the ability to perform its mandate, due to undue interference.
According to the report, the board could also be rendered ineffective due to the snail’s pace of filling vacancies on the board.
The entity’s ability to perform its mandate could also be threatened by the decline in statutory fees collected from licensed operators that retrench staff or migrate to other provinces.
Also, the racing and gambling board’s mandate could be threatened by undue influence by the parent department.
These were some of the governance risks listed in the board’s 2021/2022 annual report, which was debated this week in the Western Cape legislature’s economic development and opportunities portfolio committee.
Alarm bells have also been sounded over a decline in revenue despite the entity collecting more than R79 million in income from several sources.
In the period under review and also during the year under review, there were 68 allegations of illegal gambling, with the board fully investing in 67. One was in the process of being investigated as of March 31, 2022.
Of the allegations investigated, 30 were confirmed to be illegal, and 37 were confirmed to be legal.
ANC MPL Nomi Nkondlo said the party was concerned the board was yet to be self-sustainable.
"We understand that the DA speaks about alcohol harm, but it has not done the same in as far as gambling harm," Nkondlo said.
She said the party was keen to hear plans around the regulation of gambling as more people move to online gambling.
"There is a likelihood that we are going to get even more problems in the context of the Western Cape that up until now have not been regulated," Nkondlo said.
Al-Jah-Mah MP Galil Brinkhuis said the board must be transparent about the effects of gambling.
“The board must take the same approach the tobacco industry took and tell its customers about the dangers of gambling and how people can get into debt and even go as far as committing suicide,” Brinkhuis said.