Betting company fails to pay dividends to winning tickets

HORSE and soccer betting company, AfricaBet, has attributed its failure to pay dividends accruing to winning tickets to the debilitating liquidity crunch prevailing in the country.

The company's marketing manager, Tarisai Chipamaunga, said the firm's bankers, the Commercial Bank of Zimbabwe (CBZ), were failing to allocate them adequate funds to liquidate the winning bets.

Chipamaunga was speaking in the wake of her company's failure to pay winning tickets in Chinhoyi last week, prompting punters to besiege their offices demanding their money.

"On the day in question, our branch manager was only given $300 at CBZ Chinhoyi branch, which was not enough for us to pay all the winning tickets. We have an arrangement with CBZ, but unfortunately we could not get the required money on the day in question," she said.

When contacted for comment over the issue last week, CBZ Holdings group marketing and corporate affairs executive, Laura Gwatiringa, promised to issue a statement, but had not done at the time of going to print yesterday.