After the Bell: Department of Trade, Industry and Competition is gambling with our future

As a supporter of freedom in general and individual responsibility in particular, I’m philosophically partial to gambling, even though I know that as an industry it’s slightly in the grey zone. People should take responsibility for their own lives, etc. 

But honestly, these days my support is being tested. The National Gambling Board has just released its annual report, and it finds that in the 2023/24 financial year R1.1-trillion was wagered in the South African gambling industry. Trillion. That’s with a “t”. 

Not only that, but this figure was 40.2% higher than the turnover generated during the previous financial year. Forty percent, in one year! Interestingly, gross gambling revenue amounted to R59.3-billion, which is only a 25.7% increase from the previous year. So that is good news, I suppose, because revenue is climbing slower than turnover. But the total amount is just staggering. 

As my podcast colleague Mark Barnes points out, the worst thing that can happen to you is that when you start gambling, you win. Because from then on, you are trying to replicate that victory, and you just get caught in a downward spiral. Fortunately, winning has not happened to me in the past so, in that sense, I’m a winner. 

I am slightly entertained by the idea that gambling is a tax on people who can’t count. The most obvious is if you bet on roulette. There are 36 numbers on the board, divided equally into black and red. But then there is that green thing called “zero”. Consequently, every 37th roll of the ball belongs to the bank. Hence, your odds of winning are just slightly below even. Or, to put it another way, if you gamble for long enough, you will end up with nothing. 

Gambling advertising says “Winners know when to stop”. Actually, it’s different. Winners know the time to stop is before you start.  

The only saving grace of the gambling industry is the fabulous buildings they have built, with those wonderful lights that make you feel so classy and rich. They are not tacky at all. They just transport you to, say, Italy, and you suddenly have that rocking sensation as the lapping water of the canal splashes gently on the side of the gondola. 

No, the only saving grace of the gambling industry is that the harm it does is matched by the good the tax income can do. Most people gamble a few hundred bucks, lose it, but happily celebrate by shouting expletives at the horse in question and are cheered by the fact that at least one person in your party came away a few bucks up. Mostly, it’s harmless and the industry does pay staggering taxes. 

The National Gambling Board’s annual report says tax has increased 19.2% over the last year to hit R4.8-billion in the 2023/24 financial year.

What is also interesting is how betting has changed, and the big newcomer is sports betting. Just one measure is that horseracing has been flat over the past year, quarter by quarter, but sports betting is up 20% during this past financial year. The difference in real terms is amazing, or at least it was to me. In the fourth quarter, for example, R90-million was bet on the horses, while R562-million was spent on sports betting. 

This is visible provincially, too, because the Western Cape was quick to get its act together and, consequently, I suspect it is drawing most of the sports betting. For the first time, gross gambling revenue in this past year was higher in the Western Cape than it was in Gauteng, as was tax paid.

Gambling trends. (Source: National Gambling Board annual report 2023/24)