NSFAS, addiction and debt: how online betting hooks young South Africans

AT 7:30 ON a Tuesday morning, while most of the city's young professionals were settling into their office chairs or navigating Durban's rush-hour traffic, one man sat quietly at a roulette table inside one of KwaZulu-Natal's biggest casinos.

- XOLILE MTEMBU

His eyes were fixed on the spinning wheel, a symbol of both hope and heartbreak.

"When I came to the casino, I had the intention of making money, but it didn't work out for me," he said.

"I played R300 on the tables and lost and R100 on a slot machine. I had no luck." He's in his late twenties, educated, and has a transportation service business. He insists he's not addicted, just 'passing time' and 'trying his luck. But like thousands of young South Africans, gambling has quietly become part of his daily routine.

"I have been gambling for years, and I usually spend about R300 a day," he admitted. "I used to win a few years back but now it has been a string of losses. It is very difficult to make money through gambling nowadays because a lot more people are doing it. The technological boom has transformed the gambling landscape immensely."

South Africans gambled a record R1.5 trillion in one fiscal year alone, up from R1.1 trillion the previous year. According to the National Gambling Board (NGB), gambling operators' gross gambling revenue increased from R59 billion to R75 billion, and participation has doubled to 65.7% of adults since 2017. Gambling now contributes 0.83 percent of the country's GDP.

Students across South Africa are using their National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) allowances to gamble online, ActionSA MP Malebo Kobe has warned. She described the trend as a heartbreaking sign of how deeply gambling culture has impacted the country's youth.

"We are deeply concerned by reports that some students at tertiary education institutions are using their NSFAS allowances to gamble on online betting platforms. This is a tragic reflection of how government's failures are driving young South Africans to desperation," she said.

Kobe said the crisis spoke to more than just reckless behaviour; it was a reflection of despair and hopelessness among young people who feel abandoned by the system.