South Africa was one of the first countries where casinos were seen as part of the entertainment industry and catered for families as well as gamblers. KwaZulu-Natal has two licensed casinos in Durban, one in Pietermaritzburg and another in Newcastle but is now considering taking what, to many, is seen as a retrograde step in the promotion of responsible gambling. The KwaZulu-Natal Gambling Board is reportedly on the brink of issuing ‘route’ licences to four operators for limited payout slot machines.

Each operator will be entitled to 1,000 machines that can be placed in pubs and clubs with a maximum of five per location. The placement of these machines is unlikely to see a corresponding positioning of staff trained to recognize and help problem gamblers, and organisations such as Gamhelp are dismayed at the prospect of increasingly accessible slots. Some jurisdictions in Australia, New Zealand and several US states are altering previous legislation in order to curtail the proliferation of slot machines and video lottery machines outside the casino environment.

Raj Govender, director of Gamhelp, has said, “The gambling industry does not sell bread and milk to make its daily targets. It makes money because other people lose theirs.” It is not only the gambling industry that makes money, of course. Governments get accustomed to the steady flow of gambling taxes and, not surprisingly, are keen to see that income increase. The KwaZulu-Natal Gambling Board is welcoming ‘an exciting new industry’ and claims that slot machines in pubs and clubs will put an end to illegal gambling. An optimistic view that is at odds with those from many a jurisdiction that previously took that ‘route’. (E-06.28.06)

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