Betway wins some, loses some

ONLINE gambling giant Betway has lost its Western Cape High Court bid to silence a self-confessed problem gambler’s gripe that it is refusing to uphold responsible gambling, and causing young people and others to become compulsive gamblers and addicts.

However, the lawyers for Raging River Trading and Osiris Trading (Betway) were awarded part of their application against Beaufort West tow truck mechanic Claude Gouws.

After hearing the application by Betway’s advocate, Judge Daniel Thulare ruled that Gouws, who represented himself in the case, would not be allowed to allege or accuse Betway of “committing crime or participating in corruption and making payment to government officials”.

Judge Thulare said his court order did not prevent Gouws from reporting any well-grounded complaints to the appropriate authorities, including the Western Cape Gambling and Racing Board (WRGRB) and the police.

Gouws’s case was that Betway encouraged him to develop a gambling addiction, with free offers and betting vouchers, and that the agreement it reached with him had done nothing to help mitigate his addiction.

He said he was not the only victim and that the gambling promoted by Betway had driven him to the edge of suicide. As a result of his gambling, he had almost lost his son. Gouws said: “The conduct of your business is damaging and the money you threw at me didn’t fix my problem.”

He said he could not be said to be defaming Betway when everything he was saying was in the public domain, with media stories on the internet about Betway’s practices and treatment of gamblers.

Presenting its case, Betway said it had previously reached an agreement with Gouws under which it had paid him R150 000. That was on the understanding that he would withdraw all complaints he had lodged against it to the WCRGB and the MEC for finance and economic opportunities, under which the WCRGB falls.

Betway said that even after the settlement had been reached, Gouws had continued to complain about it in emails, which it said were “highly defamatory”.

Betway said it saw his actions and threats to take his case to the local and foreign media as an attempt to extort money from it.

Betway said that while it recognised Gouws might be a compulsive gambler, it had referred him to organisations where he could get help for his gambling addiction, but he was “the author of his own misfortune”, and holding Betway responsible for his losses due to gambling was wrong.

Judge Thulare said the relationship between Betway and Gouws had left Gouws “a wounded man”.

He said that whereas Betway saw Gouws as trying to extort them, he saw Gouws’s behaviour as a cry for help .

Approached for comment on the Betway application last week, WCRGB senior legal adviser Liezel Hartman said: “The board is investigating this matter, but the board is not at liberty to disclose information relative to the investigation at this stage.”