The gamble that never pays: the quiet epidemic crushing SA's Indian communities

“I ONLY needed one win to cover my debt,” said Rakesh (not his real name), a 32-year-old father from Chatsworth. Instead, he lost R18 000 over two months, maxed out three credit cards, and had his car repossessed.

- PROFESSOR ARADHANA RAMNUND-MANSINGH

His story isn’t unique. It’s one of thousands in a quiet epidemic unravelling families across South Africa, particularly in the Indian community.

While gambling is often marketed as entertainment or a harmless thrill, its consequences are anything but. It is a parasitic industry that feeds off hope, exploits hardship and entrenches poverty. In the absence of strong regulation, it is quietly degenerating entire communities and leaving devastation in its wake.

South Africa legalised gambling in 1996. Since then, the industry has ballooned into a multibillion-rand juggernaut. Once confined to flashy casinos and state-monitored facilities, gambling is now just a swipe away.

Sports betting apps, online casinos, and virtual slot machines have turned mobile phones into 24-hour betting stations, accessible with no meaningful safeguards.

A 2025 Statistics South Africa report confirmed that gross gambling revenue was RS9.3 billion in the 2023/24 financial year, a staggering 25.7% increase from the year before. And yet, South Africans spent R15 trillion on gambling activities, a figure that exceeds government health and education budgets combined.

Most disturbingly, this spending is concentrated among low-to-middle-income earners, especially those earning less than R10 000 per month, a cohort that includes many from historically-disadvantaged Indian communities.

Areas like Chatsworth, Phoenix and Lenasia, historically vibrant and resilient, are now facing a perfect storm: economic precarity, cultural silence around addiction, and aggressive gambling marketing.

Mobile betting apps, neighbourhood betting shops and casino loyalty programmes specifically target these areas, exploiting the promise of fast money in households struggling to make ends meet.