Gambling awareness is high - Survey’
Astudy conducted by Gambling Authority on the prevalence of problem gambling in Botswana has shown there is a high level of awareness of the practice in the country.
According to the executive summary of the landmark survey, a total of 4164 households were targeted for the survey and 3876 were successfully interviewed yielding a response rate of 93.1percent. The qualitative approach successfully yielded twenty- six ( 26) Key Informant Interviews ( KII) and three ( 3) Focus Group Discussions ( FGDs). Of the three FGDs, two ( 2) were conducted with service providers and one ( 1) with former gamblers.
Fresh information from the report shows that, about four in five respondents interviewed ( 81.1percent) reported to have heard of gambling in their lifetime. What is also disclosed is the level of awareness of gambling activities that have not been regulated by the Botswana Gambling Authority. “Besides the casino, which is regulated, the most common gambling activities known in general by a majority of respondents in the survey include snooker, game of cards and dice betting game. Other gambling activities mentioned by a significant proportion of people in the survey are lotteries/ raffles, coin spinning, slug/ table football, and scratch cards,” said the report which was commissioned and funded by Gambling Authority. It is worth noting that most of the activities identified and mentioned in the report ( as gambling) are currently not regulated by the Gambling Authority, as the Gambling Act, 2012 does not define them as gambling.
Football betting, chess betting, Betway, motor sport/ car racing, cham cham ( dipanaki), mohele/ mhele, bottle lids/ dithibo betting, fantasy league, duka, cup dice, darts game, coin on coin water bucket, horse racing, scrabble, mogala, morabaraba, mochaena, play station FIFA, poker, dog racing, stocks, thankgo thankgo and traditional choir competition betting are some of the most known gambling models, although most are not licensed nor controlled by the Authority. “The most common gambling activities known to be taking place in Botswana by order of their popularity include betting associated with snooker, casino, game of cards, dice betting game, lotteries/ raffles, coin spinning, slug/ table football, and scratch cards,” said the survey. Most of these games are on their own not gambling, until the element of betting, which normally accompanies them is introduced.
It has been further disclosed that several gambling activities other than casino tables and slot machines are not generally considered and labelled as gambling by Batswana. There are so many forms of gambling activities that are prevalent in Botswana especially those that are unregulated such as snooker betting which are considered ‘ just games’ and not labelled as gambling. “In some instances, traditional games such as mohele/ mhele, metshelo, morabaraba and traditional choir competitions, where betting is involved are not considered as gambling. It is possible that the level of awareness of gambling activities in Botswana may have been underestimated. Findings also reveal that Batswana especially those who reside in places that are in the vicinity of casino sites seem to be much more familiar with casino activities as compared to Batswana in other areas,” states the Gambling Authority report. According to the survey which was conducted by a panel of experts, attitudes of Batswana towards gambling are varied. In some instances, the attitude may be influenced by experiences with gambling. “People who had bad experiences with gambling or have a family member, relative and or close associate who has had bad experiences with gambling may harbour negative attitudes towards the activity,” according to the report.
Data from the study suggests that Batswana generally hold a negative perception towards gambling. For example, casino is viewed as an evil activity responsible for most social ills afflicting societies. “These negative attitudes cut across socio demographic backgrounds. Participants revealed that even gamblers themselves are not proud to be associated with gambling. They suggested that this explains why most gamblers do it inconspicuously because of the negative perception around gambling. Some participants, especially former gamblers, indicated that gambling is a license to steal from people and it is meant to own and control people,” said the report.
There are reports that indicate that gambling, especially that is regulated, is designed to attract beginners by small wins to ensure they get hooked.
According to participants this explains why gambling has negative health, socioeconomic and psychological consequences in societies. However, some people especially political leaders view gambling as a form of economic activity that creates jobs and improves economies of the local communities. The study was funded by the Authority at a cost of over 2 million Pula from the Responsible Gambling Levy, which is a levy created by levying the industry