Gambling Affects Well Documented Say NRGP

March 19 - The National Responsible Gambling Program (NRGP) has come out in defence over claims that there is a lack of research on the impact of gambling on South Africa's society.

Accusations were levelled by the Justice Alliance of South African in Sea Point on Tuesday at a public hearing on the matter.

The public session was hosted by the Gambling Review Commission.

The Justice Alliance expressed shock that there is a serious lack of research available that delves into the socio-economic impact of gambling in the country.

The Justice Alliance called for more research to be done and said that the lack of information in the field made it difficult to assess just how serious a problem gambling is in communities in South Africa.

The Alliance suggested that a special research unit be set up to collect current data, in a bid to gain a true picture about how gambling affects specific categories such as children and the economy.

However, the NRGP countered these claims. The group's Executive Director, Professor Peter Collins said that it was simply untrue that there was no data available.

He said that there is up-to-date information readily available about the impact of gambling across the board.

"There's a lot of good research which my colleagues and I have done since 2001, at two or three year intervals," said Prof. Collins. "We've got four full reports on our website."

The aim of the hearings hosted by the Gambling Review Commission is to address a number of issues that centre around South Africa's gambling industry.

The hearing on Tuesday was the second in a series of events planned around the country.

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