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- Online betting is pushing up gambling addiction in SA
- More people asking to be banned from platforms, casinos
- 2,300 people referred by Responsible Gambling for treatment
Online gambling is drawing in new, younger audiences, attracted by the excitement of risk and the prospect of quick gains.
There’s a concomitant rise in gambling addiction and self-exclusions, which is when people request to be banned from gambling venues or online sites. The number of self-exclusions has rocketed by more than 240% in the past four years, according to the National Gambling Board.
The number of people referred by the Responsible Gambling programme for treatment doubled to 2,299 in 2022/23 after a Covid-19 lull. Most of these people were in the 25-to-35-year age group.
More than half of the young adults (those between 18 and 34) surveyed by InfoQuest said they gambled because they needed money. Just under 10% said they gambled because they were depressed, addicted or needed to escape from reality. Almost 40% used their winnings to gamble again.
Among those surveyed, sports betting was the most-often-placed bet, with an average incidence of 12 times a month.
— 12 August, 2024Subscribe to the weekly newsletter for more charts like this
