THE Gauteng gambling industry appears to have made a swift recovery from the devastating effects of Covid-19 and its subsequent hard lockdown, but the pandemic showed the need for the industry to embrace technology and become fully automated to withstand future disruption.
This is according to Gauteng Gambling Board chief executive Steven Ngubeni, who spoke of the challenges of the past year, which also include clamping down on illegal gambling to maximise revenue collection.
During the hard lockdown, the gambling industry saw its revenue collapse by 90% as casinos, Limited Payout Machines and Bingos were closed to the public. The only revenue was coming from online sports betting, which is the fastest growing area that the Gambling Board regulates.
Ngubeni notes the resilience of Gauteng gambling industry, which he says did not retrench in the early part of the lockdown, but instead used reduced salaries and assistance such as Temporary
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