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South Africa Spend More on Gambling

SOUTH AFRICA – As reported by the Johannesburg Business Day: "South Africans blew R9,9bn (US$1.5 billion) gambling at casinos, on the horses, bingo and limited payout machines in the year to March, a 22% increase on the R8,1bn they wagered last year, according to the latest statistics from the National Gambling Board.

"This spending represents a significant increase in income and profits for the country's big gaming groups and their empowerment partners, including Sun International, Peermont Global, Gold Reef Casino Resorts, Phumelela Gaming and Leisure and Hosken Consolidated Investments (HCI), all of which have invested heavily in casinos.

"The National Gambling Board's acting GM of strategic operations, Michael Burns, said on Wednesday that gross gambling revenue-- casino income after winnings payouts, but before levies, taxes and operating costs-- was a truer reflection of the amount spent by gamblers than total turnover, which contains some double counting because gamblers often used some of their winnings to bet again.

"…The board's figures show that Gauteng takes 44% of gross gambling revenue, followed by KwaZulu-Natal and Western Cape with 16% each. Casinos account for 87,6%, or R8,7bn, of revenue from gambling, followed by the horse racing and totalisator industry with 11,9%, or R1,2bn…"

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