BOSA received R15.5 million from an online gambling billionaire living overseas

Build One South Africa (BOSA), founded by Mmusi Maimane, has received R15.5 million from online gambling billionaire Martin Moshal.

This is significant, as online gambling is a controversial service which is widely seen as detrimental to South Africa’s society.

Over 85% of the country’s total betting Gross Gambling Revenue (GGR) now comes from digital platforms, driving a surge in industry turnover to roughly R1.5 trillion.

It causes many social problems, including gambling addiction, household financial strain, and the resulting pressure on social services.

It has become so severe that the chief executives of many top South African companies warned that it is taking food out of people’s mouths.

Shoprite CEO Pieter Engelbrecht said people are wasting money on online gambling, which should have been spent on food.

Absa’s CEO Kenny Fihla said that gambling trends are a predictor of loan delinquency, which is a growing problem in South Africa.

“The more clients become indebted, the more they gamble, and the bigger the hole becomes. This is a massive problem, and we’re worried about it,” he told Bloomberg.

Pick n Pay CEO Sean Summers called for a ban on gambling advertising, which he warned contributed to financial distress among poor households.

Oscar Bishop, ambassador of the South African Responsible Gambling Foundation, said the pandemic of online gambling is out of hand.

“People are blowing their salaries on online gambling before they pay rent, school fees, transport,” said Bishop.

Economic expert Frans Cronje argues that the people behind online gambling in South Africa are evil, as they cause tremendous hardship and societal problems.

Cronje said the betting companies are exploiting the desperate poverty in South Africa, where people hope they can improve their financial situation through online gambling.

“Betting is addictive. People become addicts. It is like letting heroin run wild in the streets,” Cronje said.

The result is that many South Africans are losing a significant portion of their money through betting, leaving them desperate.

Build One South Africa’s view on online gambling

One of the biggest donors to South African political parties is Martin Moshal, who became a billionaire through online gambling.

Moshal is a successful but media-shy South African-born internet entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and philanthropist.

In 1994, he co-founded Microgaming and launched the Gaming Club in South Africa with the domain casino.co.za.

During this period, he developed a series of foundational patents for online gambling technologies, including the world’s first online progressive jackpot slot game.

He became one of the most successful online gambling entrepreneurs in the world, with close links to the well-known gaming company, Betway.

Microgaming powers Betway, which offers sports betting, online casinos, online poker, and online bingo. Moshal is also one of Betway’s backers.

Although Moshal no longer lives in South Africa, he remains a major player in its political landscape through his large donations.

This raises concerns among some commentators that the political parties which received donations from him are less likely to support a ban on online gambling.

One of these parties is Build One South Africa, which received R15.5 million from Moshal over the last three years.

Newsday asked Build One South Africa whether it supports a ban on online gambling, or, potentially, only on online casino gambling.

BOSA director of communications at Build One South Africa, Graham Charters, preferred not to answer these questions.

Instead, he referred Newsday to an old party statement on the mid-term budget in which they proposed a sin tax on gambling.

“We long proposed the introduction of a 6% national sin tax on online gambling to be charged against online gambling companies,” it said.

BOSA’s 6% sin tax proposal is significantly lower than the National Treasury’s proposed 20% tax on revenue from online betting.