'Betting won't be affected'
2003-12-11 14:32
Cape Town - The current outbreak of equine influenza in the Western Cape was not expected to greatly affect South Africa's multi-billion rand horse-racing industry, because punters would continue to bet.
"(I) don't foresee that the turnover will be affected at all," said Mike Burns, horse racing and betting manager at the National Gambling Board.
Burns said that regular punters in the Western Cape - where racing has been cancelled following the discovery of the highly contagious disease among horses at the Milnerton training centre - could become more familiar with racing in other parts of the country and abroad.
"Racing has still been continuing in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, with about six race meetings taking place per week in these regions, and between 10 and 14 from the UK."
Burns said there was an abundance of racing in South Africa on which to place bets, with additional betting available via satellite horse-racing from the United Kingdom.
"If you are a punter and it's in your blood, you will bet on something," said Burns.
Asked to what degree, if any, punters might move to other forms of gambling in the light of the horse flu scare, Burns said that there was a steady increase in sports betting over the last 18 to 24 months, particularly on soccer, tennis and cricket.
"If one is a horse-race enthusiast, one might have dual interests (in betting)... There is a bigger spread now and we did see a downturn after the euphoria of legalising casinos, the Lotto and to a lesser extent bingo... but in general the downturn is rectifying itself and the regular punters are remaining true to horse betting."
According to Prof Andre Ligthelm of the University of South Africa, 15.3% of the country's adult population (18 and older) or 4.049m people bet on horses.
In the period April 1, 2001 to March 31, 2002, a total of R5.1bn was bet on horses, of which about 80% was returned to punters as prize money.
"About 0.2% of total household income in South Africa is spent on horse and sports betting," he said.
Of those who participated in horse-betting, 62.6% bet once a month or less, 4.8% once every two weeks, 21.5 once a week and 11.1% daily.
Ligthelm said the horse-racing industry dated back to 1882 in South Africa.
- SAPA