The South African casino industry is thriving with strong revenues and low levels of problem gambling
Even though last year was tough for the casino industry, there was an increase in gross revenue last year in the South African market. It increased by 5% to R17.14 billion up from R16.258 billion. Also, last year the industry contributed R4.5 billion in taxes to the central government.
Casino gambling was by far the most popular form of gambling and was responsible for R14 billion of the gambling industry’s revenue (89.9%). Jabu Mabuza, the Chairman of the Casino Association of South Africa (CASA), believes that casinos are so successful because of the “constructive relationship that exists between the industry, government and regulators.”
Last year the final report of the Gambling Review Commission was published and stated that the industry is very well run and compares well with other casino industries around the world. The report also found that despite the growth in the gambling industry, the levels of problem gambling have remained fairly steady.
A recent survey conducted by CASA showed that there is a high level of awareness of The National Responsible Gambling Programme (NRGP). Almost 80% of people asked said that they were aware of the programme with particularly high levels in the Western Cape (95%) and Eastern Cape (92%). This high level of awareness together with the absence of any significant rise in problem gambling suggests that the NRGP is a highly successful initiative.
There same survey also looked at the casino industry’s commitment to Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment and it achieved a Level 2 rating based upon Empowerdex’s analysis. The survey looked at the industry as a whole and gave it a score of 95.00 points.
Overall it seems that land casinos in South Africa are thriving and are set to go from strength to strength over the coming years.
