Pic Caption: ILitha Gaming Lounge at N U 12 Mdantsane is one of the trendy gaming venues in Mdantsane
Gaming is taking the formerly disadvantaged areas around the country by storm as new gaming venues are popping up around the townships and Mdantsane is no exception. It’s a fact that gaming in general has always been associated with upmarket and affluent areas because of the high costs involved, but all that is changing as gaming is now gaining popularity in the less fortunate communities. Some businessmen have identified a niche and decided to open venues around Mdantsane. TEC visited some of these venues to find out more about this latest craze.
Lindile Mgubo a photographer, videographer and a printing business owner has been operating a gaming venue in the heart of the Highway Business centre in Mdantsane. His business premises ( Fly Eye ), exudes style and professionalism even from the outside, and upon entering the establishment you are not disappointed. I find several gamers, some young boys still in their school uniform sitting on comfortable couches and immersed in three monitors mounted on the wall. After moving to new premises about a year ago, Mgubo saw an opportunity and started an e gaming venue and never looked back ever since.
“I realised that Hemingways Mall in East London was the only place where you can access recreational facilities such as gaming, not so long ago I included gaming in my already existing business because I saw a potential for it to grow. Children as young as 8 years to young adults have been coming here in their numbers to enjoy themselves.” he said.
Mgubo urged government to come on board and fund small businesses in the township, because starting a gaming venue is not cheap and that there is a lack of these amenities in most previously disadvantaged areas.
“All the equipment you see here is self funded and I must say it’s not affordable even for the older gaming equipment, I started with a single Ps 4 and a monitor then added two more at a cost of R 18 000. I would like our Mayor to come and see what we do here because we need to upgrade to the latest gaming gadgets so we can attract more enthusiasts,”he said.
Oyama Mpotulo is a 14 year old gaming fan, who like most children his age these days, is passionate and obsessed about gaming. His wish is to see more venues around the township as he wishes to make gaming his career.
“At the moment my friends and I play against each other using our phones because we cannot afford gaming gadgets, I am happy that there are venues opening around the townships. My only wish is to see more venues that are using the latest gadgets like the Ps 5 because we want to take gaming to another level.”
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