SAMNET has been raising the growth of gambling in South Africa for some time — calling for regulation and limits on gambling advertising during sports broadcasts, on the sponsorship of sports teams (including the Springboks), on advertising near and even inside schools, on predatory promotions, and on gambling in shopping malls. The English Premier League is already phasing part of this out.

Where the pressure needs to go

We need all spheres of civil society — religious leaders, mental health professionals, safety and security stakeholders, and the public — to lobby local, provincial and national government, and to write to and speak with political parties about the socio-economic damage.

Much of the decision-making sits at provincial level, which is where too little of the pressure is currently directed.

Gambling is damaging at every level of our communities. It must now be treated as a major contributing factor in gender-based violence and abuse in the home, in marriage and relationship breakdown, and in a growing problem among young people. And as always, it does the most damage in the least affluent and most vulnerable communities.

Others are saying it too

Rise Mzansi has urged government to tackle the gambling crisis through industry reform, citing a National Gambling Board study showing an almost eightfold increase in people seeking help for gambling addiction or related problems.

The Gauteng Gambling Board made the same point about young people: they are growing up with gambling all around them — on their phones, in their communities, among their friends — and gambling at a young age raises the risk of addiction.

Rise Mzansi calls for government action on South Africa’s gambling crisis — IOL.

If gambling is affecting you or someone close to you, SADAG can be reached on 0800 567 567 and the National Responsible Gambling Programme counselling line on 0800 006 008.

Related

South Africa’s Growing Gambling Problem · Tackle Gambling Before It Gets Out of Control

Shared by the South African Muslim Network (SAMNET) in the interest of stronger regulation and action on the harms of gambling in South Africa.