Beware the addiction: Online gambler sold belongings, lost entire salary chasing wins
It all started with flickering images on her television set of an advertisement for the game Aviator on the Betway gambling site. Three months after she first saw it, Heleen* was totally addicted to the game and couldn’t wait for a free moment to devote to it.
Heleen lost her vehicle in February. Now she is also without a place to stay after receiving an eviction order due to poor payment.Heleen’s situation is not unique, with more and more people in recent years falling into the honey pot of online gambling and becoming irretrievably entangled. One of the show’s most beloved characters, Mymoena Samsodien , lost herself and her valuables in a casino behind the neighbourhood’s new laundromat, to the shock and dismay of her friends and loved ones.
As evidenced by Heleen’s story, physical gambling venues are no longer the only temptation for addicts. Last year, the GGR amounted to a staggering R47.2 billion – more than R12 billion more than the previous year . The largest contributor to this growth was online betting, which grew by R8 billion to more than R23 billion.The gambling industry is also a player in South African politics. The online gambling magnate, Martin Moshal of Betway, has donated more than R72 million to political parties since 2021, according to the Electoral Commission of SA’s declarations.
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