DEAR Editor,-
It is with absolute horror that retired people on the South Coast have heard that the KZN Gaming Board has closed down social bingo games enjoyed by ‘old people’. Many of these elderly people are lonely and look forward to socialising with other bingo players, where firm friendships are forged.
Why has the gaming board picked on the elderly? Social bingo is played for fun. The money exchanged is negligible, especially compared with gambling that goes on in casinos. Excessive gambling also takes place in illegal shebeens and taverns, but the elderly are singled out for penalising.
In the apartheid days games of chance were forbidden for religious reasons. We all thought that the new regime would be more tolerant towards old people. It is an absolute shame that there are so many disappointed elderly people who have been deprived of an innocent afternoon of fun.
ELAINE DUNCAN
Margate Retirement Village
