Eswatini Senator unveils unconventional plan to combat gambling addiction
Senator Chief Mphatfwa has proposed that public servants suffering from gambling addiction should be excluded from salary raises, with funds instead redirected to their parents or guardians.
Eswatini.- An Eswatini lawmaker has proposed that public servants, such as police officers suffering from gambling addiction, including those who play the popular Aviator game, should be excluded from salary raises, with funds instead redirected to their parents or guardians.
In a bold and controversial address during the Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Affairs’ Phase II budget discussions, Senator Chief Mphatfwa argued that individuals who fall into this category would simply lose the extra income to betting.
He said: “If it were according to me, all those who have Aviator in their phones would not be given Phase II, but that money should be given to their parents… because the money will be lost through gambling.”
He also criticised mobile money vendors, shopkeepers and salon workers for the rise in gambling addiction rates by allegedly misusing employer funds to place bets.
Mphatfwa noted that 17 gambling outlets had received short-term permits to operate in the jurisdiction, yet no formal regulations existed to guide them. He linked the absence of effective oversight to problem gambling, increased financial hardship, stress and suicide rates in Eswatini.
He said: “The people get addicted to gambling to an extent that most of the country’s population is playing Aviator. The ministry’s officials are also gambling, and this is no longer public but is now done in the comfort of one’s home. Once you lose, you just take your gun and commit suicide, just like there are many suicides recorded nowadays.”
Senator Lorraine Nxumalo, Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee, echoed concerns about the impact of gambling on rural areas, noting that families were fracturing as adults gambled away savings and neglected responsibilities.
Senator Princess Ntfombi Yenkhosi added that children were skipping school or stealing funds from their parents to feed their gambling habits. Many parents had pleaded for police engagement on the issue.
She said: “I don’t know why we allowed this in the country because instead of making us rich and developing us, it is now a setback. Money is being lost to gambling, and we are saying something should be done so that our children do not become gambling addicts.”
This follows a recent parliamentary session where Minister of Tourism and Environmental Affairs Jane Mkhonta-Simelane was grilled by Senators on why the Gaming Addiction Fund has not been implemented. In the hearing, Mkhonta-Simelane rejected the connection between gambling addiction and suicide rates, stating that the ministry had not conducted any formal study to substantiate the assertion.
