R1m gambling buy-in
WHILE the pressure to shelve the granting of licences for the installation of electronic bingo machines at various shopping centres in KwaZulu-Natal continues, POST has established that bingo operators have spent R1 million each for a slice of the lucrative gambling market.
Allan Scott, director of business development of the Gauteng company Gold Rush, which has the Acropolis Mall in Phoenix, the Chatsworth Main Shopping Centre in Tranquil Street, the Bay Centre in Richards Bay and the Scottburgh Mall in line to install electronic bingo machines, said his company had spent R1 million in its application to the KZN Gaming and Betting Board.
Scott, who spoke to this newspaper before last Thursday’s public hearing organised by the Board at the Pesco Hall in Phoenix, said while the arguments raised by various community, religious, welfare, political and other groups against the installation of bingo machines were understandable, he did not think that the machines would result in people becoming hooked on gambling.
“We are not forcing shoppers to dump their shopping needs and to spend their money on the bingo machines. People have a choice whether they want to play or not,” he said.
“We view the proposed introduction of the bingo machines at shopping centres as pure entertainment.”
When asked if the R1 million paid to the KZN Gaming and Betting Board for the application would be forfeited or refunded if the board went with public sentiment and shelved the idea, Scott said he was unsure what would happen.
Durban businessman Vivian Reddy, a shareholder at Sibaya Casino, said introducing bingo machines at shopping centres would violate the exclusivity protection enjoyed by casino licence holders.
“We had to pay an exclusivity fee of R45 million for Sibiya. The casino has helped to create more than 1 000 jobs. On the other hand, the bingo operators will share a large slice of the profits without addressing the high unemployment rate. Their rental is minimal,” he said. “It makes a mockery of exclusivity.”
Communities
Sham Maharaj, chairman of the People’s Forum comprising welfare, religious, community and other organisations, vowed that communities would make the lives of the bingo operators miserable if they ignored the concerns of the masses.
“I am heavily involved in welfare issues in the Phoenix Child and Family Welfare Society. If the licences are granted the poor will get poorer and the rich, richer,” said Maharaj.
Pastor Mervin Reddy told another public meeting in the Olive Hall in Westville last Tuesday and again on Thursday in Phoenix, that his late brother Dion, a teacher, had gambled away the R1 million he got from the Government Employees Pension Fund after he was medically boarded.
“He was addicted to gambling and lost R1 million at Sibaya, Suncoast and Grandwest Casino in Cape Town. Gambling ruined my brother,’’ said Reddy.
The Board came under fire again yesterday at the public hearing at the Rajput Hall in Unit 6, Chatsworth.
ANC member Visvin Reddy and ward councillor Brandon Pillay said if the board approved the licences, they would urge the community to boycott the shops at the centre. “If the licences are approved we will ask the community not to support the shops,” he said.
Pillay said it was disturbing to note that the bingo hall had been planned for the same place where teenagers, children and families used to hang out to play pool, shot putt and other games.
“There is a lack of recreational facilities in Chatsworth. On the other hand gambling facilities are mushrooming,” he said. “This is bad for the community.”
Meanwhile, POST has sought to clear the confusion surrounding the granting of the licences for electronic bingo machines.
The newspaper reported last week that Board chairwoman Sibusisiwe Zulu had indicated that licences had been granted four years ago.
Treasury spokesman Musa Cebisa confirmed this was indeed the case. He said Premier Senzo Mchunu, who was quoted in the Daily News as having said that no licences had yet been issued, had in fact referred to the licences bingo machine operators required to operate the machines, not to have them installed at shopping centres.