Finance
(a) What corporate social investment (CSI) projects have been undertaken by gambling
institutions in the province as mandated by the Western Cape Gambling and Racing Board
and (b) what is her Department’s assessment of the progress and implementation of these
projects to date?
(a) For the 2023/24 Financial Year, the WCGRB Annual Report reported CSI
contributions by the gambling industry to the value of R30.7 million. The WCGRB
does not mandate any specific projects, but conditions are placed on the licence
for CSI contributions. In addition to the condition, some licence holders have
additional voluntary conditions (bursaries disaster relief contributions). Caledon
Casino contributes to the Empowerment Company and to the Trust who in turn runs
projects and bursaries to the communities.
Types of CSI projects supported by licence holders are wide ranging and include
contributions to the National Sea Rescue Institute, donations to Hospice, support
provided to schools through building classrooms and fitment, providing equipment
to schools, school stationary, disaster relief, school feeding, assisting with
operational costs for NPO’s etc.
(b)The Provincial Treasury does not directly assess the implementation of CSI
projects but monitors the progress of the performance indicator related to CSI
“Number of operators’ CSI programmes verified by the Board Committees”. The
target for this indicator is 6 per annum and has been consistently achieved.
The WCGRB engages its licence holders on their CSI initiatives and conducts CSI site
visits to assess the effectiveness of the CSI projects and encourages funding of
sustainable projects. The projects are visited and verified by the different WCGRB
Committees and the WCGRB Committees sees the value and contributions of these
CSI projects to the communities.
