If the maths adds up, by this time next week unemployed pensioner-farmer Peter Maboa will finally have the outstanding balance of the money he won on a Carousel slot machine in the winter of 2023.
Maboa won R168,433 on the 10c machines at the Carousel in July 2023. He claims almost three years later they still owe him R35,000.
“It was in the daytime. When I won, the casino people said they did not have the funds to pay me the full amount. They gave me R30,000 in cash and said if I gave them my account details they would transfer the rest,” Maboa told TimesLIVE Premium.
After waiting for a week, he returned to the Carousel.
“That time they gave me R18,400. Then on August 1 2023, I received another R30,000 with promises of instalments paid into my account every month. They kept making promises.”
According to Maboa, the last instalment he received — R10,000 — was paid into his account in November 2023.
“I eventually went to see a lawyer and had a letter of demand sent to them, but to no avail.”
“You think you won money and this will make your life better, but the trauma is very bad. Even the costs of travelling to the Carousel and back as well as the R1,000 for the letter of demand cost me money I didn’t have,” Maboa said.
Maboa, who used to work for the department of roads and infrastructure, retired in 2015.
“I don’t have much of a pension. I survive by hustling as a small farmer. This money was important to me.
George Morfou, one of the owners of the now closed-down Carousel, told TimesLIVE Premium they were doing the maths.
“I can confirm that Mr Maboa did not receive the full amount on the day he won, but I was under the impression that we have paid everything. Our team is going to the warehouse today to work through our records. If we find that Mr Maboa is still owed the R35,000 we will pay it immediately,” Morfou said on Thursday.
In October 2023, TimesLIVE Premium reported that Israel Mogotsi was still waiting for the money he won on July 20 2023.
On the day, Mogotsi walked out of Carousel with R2,000 of the R420,000 he won playing Bingo.
On Thursday, Mogotsi said he remembered Maboa.
“Yes, I won in the evening, and he won his money earlier in the day. At the time you interviewed me I gave you his number, but he never answered when you or I called. If he did, he would have had his money by now.”
The casino, which has closed down since Mogotsi and Maboa won their money, was bought in 2020 from Sun International by Lakama Resorts and Casino, which is owned by former Mpumalanga Black Aces owners George and Mario Morfou.
In October 2023, when TimesLIVE Premium reported on Mogotsi’s casino problem, a request for comment was sent to George Morfou.
At the time, Morfou told TimesLIVE Premium that they did have enough money to pay Mogotsi on the day he won, but had offered to have it done electronically.
“Mr Mogotsi collected R85,000 before the closure of the casino. Once the casino was closed, the management of the Carousel together with Mr Mogotsi agreed that due to him not being able to come to the casino to collect his cash, [payments would be] paid into his account,” Morfou said.
“Unfortunately, our creditors’ clerk responsible for managing all payments resigned unexpectedly. This led to a backlog of pending payments.
“Upon being made aware of this situation by your emails to our management, I looked into it personally and rectified it on the same day.”
Mogotsi was paid in full a day after Morfou received the request for comment from TimesLIVE Premium.
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