A new report has blown the lid on the human cost of online gambling in South Africa, with players often sacrificing household groceries, debt repayments and transport money to fund their fix.
The study by Yazi, an AI-powered consumer research platform with about 29-million active monthly users in the country which enables organisations to conduct large-scale research through WhatsApp, was conducted in May among 1,028 South Africans who had gambled online in the previous 30 days.
It found that 57 of participants had sacrificed essentials, including airtime and rent funds, while 29 borrowed money to pay for their gambling.
