Phillip Kakaza and Ren Rosen
It’s Saturday afternoon and White City, Soweto, is vibrant with activity: throngs of people bustling along the pavement, vendors sellings their goods and street gamblers betting their homes, luxury cars and more than R10 000 at Javela Park. Rumour has it that some men are even prepared to gamble away their wives.
To many Sowetans, street gamblers are living symbols of courage and resilience. Their entrepreneurial spirit and willingness to take risks has afforded them material rights and privileges once only accessible to whites.
You can tell from the 4x4s, Mercedes Benzes, and BMWs parked alongside the gambling tables that many have made it. These players have overcome the obstacles of the past for a price. For the lucky, apartheid’s legacy of deprivation is rectified at the tables.
Street gambling has come a long way since the 1960s, when it was associated with gangsters and thugs. It began on street corners where dice were thrown on pavements. Games were cheap at 5c a throw and winnings were used for luxury items like cigarettes, beer and dagga.
While luck was very much the order of the game, cheating and robbery were common. Unlike today, survival of the fittest was the name of the game. Knives and spilled blood were not unusual.
But street gambling is now free from violence. “Its only purpose is to uplift the standard of living for those who play, rich or poor,” says Toby Tladi, a table owner. “I’ve always made my living from running the tables. I receive a commission from the players and some winners bank their earnings with me. When they lose they simply take what is left and bet again.”
Gambling has attained a new level of status. Today, reformed gangsters and thugs play beside professional people like schoolteachers and doctors. Although the government does not legally recognise street gambling, it is all but exempt from police raids and shutdowns. In fact, the government is now preparing to enter the gambling market in the townships.
The National Gambling Board is currently advising Minister of Trade and Industry Alec Erwin on how best to regulate the introduction of limited pay-out machines to townships. These “one-arm bandits” will be strategically located in shebeens and taverns where customers will be able to bet no more than R5 per roll for a chance to win a maximum of R500. By law, slots will pay out 85% of all money gambled, unlike on the streets where anything can happen.
It is well understood that the townships are a lucrative and untapped market. Profits from limited pay-out machines are expected to be R110,01 per every R1 000 gambled. These profits will be divided between shebeen owners and the route operators who maintain the slot machines.
The amount of money that will be generated by gaming levies and taxes can only be speculated about as this is an emerging enterprise. Taxes are expected to be set at 22,8%, unlike on the streets which remain a tax-free zone.
The allure of quick money and instant wealth is sure to keep players betting. As Zondi, a gambler, states: “I buy furniture, I make everything with the money of the dice … That’s why I told my son – when I die boy, put two dice in front of me.”
To meet Zondi and other street gamblers, watch Real Lives on March 10 on e.tv at 9pm