Source:
www.thenewage.co.za/16563-9-53-Gambling_...80%93_so_regulate_it
Gambling is here to stay – so regulate it
Tiisetso Makube
A man was invited to a party for the affluent some time ago.
“Sir, what do you do?” he was asked.
“I am the garbage man,” he replied, with a quiet dignity.
“A garbage man, you say?”
“Yes sir,” replied the man.
“Oh,” said the other guy, failing to hide his contempt for his interlocutor.
“I am afraid, sir, but yours is a miserably lowly job,” said this snooty fellow. “Well, somebody has to do it!”
And that is how Prince Mafojane, the newly appointed chairperson of the Gauteng Gambling Board (GGB) explains his fantastic predicament.
On the one hand he feels that gambling is a terrible thing – particularly for those addicted to it. But then gambling is there anyway. And it will, like the oldest profession in the world, continue to be there.
So why not regulate it? About half a billion rand is contributed annually to the Gauteng economy by the gambling industry, says Mafojane, which is why it needs effective regulation.
You may not know it, dear reader, but many businesses in Gauteng that trade as restaurants or taverns, are also involved in gambling that is often illegal.
Take sports betting, for an example. How many businesses know that they should be registered with the board in order that they can legally continue with it?
There are issues of economic betterment, however, that presently occupy the mind of the chairperson.
“There is a lot of illegal gambling activity taking place in the economically depressed areas across the country. We want to put an end to those practices in Gauteng, because when that kind of activity takes place, is that in the end poverty becomes a serious problem and that puts a strain on government due to the multiplier effect arising from that kind of situation.
“What we want from small businesses engaged in this kind of activity is that they should approach us. We are here to offer advice. However, they must not come to us if gambling is their primary source of income. That is something that the board – and the national board, for that matter – does not condone and is legislated against.
“The other challenge facing us is that of making it easier for people who want to gamble, to be able to do so where they stay. This is why there will be a campaign to encourage SMMEs in the townships to open horse and sports betting places where they are. People need not get into a taxi or drive to town to go and bet. They can do that where they stay.
“Provided that the gambling, wherever it is conducted, is respectable. We can’t for instance, issue a licence to a business that is within a 100 metres of a church or school. We also can’t give a licence to a business that sells alcohol, say, to underage customers.”
Mafojane also said that one of the things they would be trying to do differently during his tenure, is to engage the provincial government on how to properly spend this income from gambling, in places that are economically depressed and massively populated with previously disadvantaged individuals.
“It’s something we will work towards. It must, as a matter of course, happen. These people who are spending their monies on gambling, must also see how those monies contribute towards the betterment of their communities. We will have failed in our duty, if this goal is not realised.”
The Gauteng Gambling Board can be contacted on 011 591 4800
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