Gauteng Gambling Board Funding
JOHANNESBURG - Eyewitness News has learnt that the North West Gambling Board paid over R1 million to companies linked to its chairperson Lavelle Vere.
The National Lotteries Commission also serves as a Grant Funder, providing registered Non Profit Organisations with funding to establish projects that improve the lives of everyday South Africans. Our grant funding focuses mainly in areas that require enough support to be able to bring growth and change within impoverished communities. All Points North #60: Gambling with addiction – does Finland have a problem? 19.9.2019 'I had my first panic attack at 10': The hidden victims of Finland's slot machine culture 18.9.2019 Veikkaus to remove slot machines, cut marketing 6.9.2019 Gambling firm Veikkaus to establish ethics board following ad controversy 14.8.2019. To date, the Gauteng Gambling Board, with the assistance of the South African Police Services, has conducted over 270 raids, seized over 720 gambling equipment used for illegal gambling or at unlicensed facilities, and has destroyed over 400 of the same type of equipment.
Documents in EWN's possession show that the companies were paid with funds meant to develop the community.
Two sources said the money was part of a R5 million donation by Sun City Resort as part of its cooperate social investment.
Vele did not deny the payments but insisted there was nothing untoward about them.
When the Gambling Board received the funds from Sun City Resort, the intention was to spend them on community development projects.
But EWN understands companies linked to the board chair walked away as beneficiaries.
In August last year, the gambling board paid R300,000 to an NGO Bokone Bophirima Craft Design Institute. Vere features as a director there.
He told EWN the funding was for a themed dance event.
Earlier this year, another payment of over R100,000 from the funds was paid to an organisation called TTT Foundation for the leasing of a truck to load confiscated illegal gambling equipment.
Vere is a former director of the organisation and admitted its mandate was to advance the arts.
And just a month ago, R600,000 was paid by the Gambling Board to the South African Dance Foundation whose chair, Frans Seema, serves together with Vere as directors of Bokone Bophirima Craft Designs.
Despite the evidence, Vere denied he personally benefitted from the funds or that he exerted influence on the gambling board to make the payments.
The Internet and gambling know no borders. So it’s not surprising that online gambling is emerging in Africa.
It’s hard to measure how much is happening with Internet gambling, but it has grown large enough to have its own event in Lagos, Nigeria. Clarion Events announced this week that it is staging a conference on the potential of gaming (as gambling is euphemistically called within the industry) on the African continent.
Curtis Roach, senior events producer at Clarion Events, said in an interview with VentureBeat that the company is holding its WrB Africa event in Lagos to explore just how big online gambling could become in the oil-rich region of Nigeria and its surrounding neighbors.
“The region is known for its troubles and government issues, but this market is in its growth stage,” Roach said. “Nigeria is a leader in this market, and it has a lot of investment dollars. Reforms have happened.”
“It’s hard to say on the size of the market,” he continued. “But we have some people doing research papers, and Nigeria is definitely the leader.”
The WrB Africa is the first-ever summit dedicated to exploring the opportunities in gambling in this region and encouraging a regulatory framework that will produce a thriving and sustainable gaming industry in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Targeting just about 150 to 200 people, the event is far smaller than Internet gambling events in Europe or the U.S.
The speaker lineup includes a keynote session from Lanre Gbajabiamila, CEO of the Lagos State Lottery Board (LSLB).
Other speakers include John Kamara, director of Global Gaming Africa; Tarimba Abbas, director general of the Tanzania Gaming Board; Edward Lalumbe, chief operating officer of the Gauteng Gambling Board; and Matthias Jacek Wojdyla, head of international affairs at FIFA.
Gbajabiamila is optimistic about the continued growth of gambling in Lagos and Nigeria, with expanding technology and the public’s appetite for sport among the driving forces.
“The Nigerian gaming industry is an evolving one and gradually expanding. More states and individuals are becoming more aware of the opportunities that exist in the industry in terms of entertainment, revenue and employment,” Gbajabiamila said in a statement.
Gauteng Gambling Board Funding Corporation
Africa is definitely making gains with Internet access. A few days ago, the Africa Internet Group raised $327 million in funding from investors including Rocket Internet, French insurance company AXA, African telecom company MTN Group, and Goldman Sachs. The company’s valuation was more than $1.1 billion, making it Africa’s first unicorn, or startup valued at more than $1 billion.
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