South Africa Closer to Online Poker Online Gambling Approval

The legalization of online poker and online gambling in South Africa was again in the media spotlight this past week, as a bill relating to Internet gambling went to the Select Committee of National Provinces. It will later be tabled in the National Assembly for final approval, according to an article in the Times.

Online sports betting is already legal in South Africa, as long as it was conducted on sites within the country. But online poker and online gambling were outlawed by the National Gambling Act of 2004 because government wanted more time to research how to regulate and tax these sectors which were growing quickly at the time (click here for related article).

So currently, no online poker, online gambling, or foreign sports betting site is legally licensed in South Africa to offer services to residents of South Africa, even if the service provider holds a valid license to operate granted by another country.

It is taking South Africa a long time to pass a bill, as much international research, discussion, and re-drafting of proposed legislation has been undertaken.

MANY ONLINE GAMBLING SITES OPENLY OPERATE

Meantime, numerous online gambling sites openly advertise their services.

Themba Marasha, chief operations officer of the National Gambling Board, says he has approached various bodies that have broken the restriction on advertising, promoting and marketing online gambling services, but, as the Times article reports, they continue.

When online gambling becomes legal in SA, the providers of such services and Internet service providers may apply for licenses.

"The new law will enable people to license Internet gambling, and South African citizens will be able to operate within a protected environment," said Marasha.

He said that current offenders had little chance of obtaining licenses. "Acts of wrongdoing will disqualify them should they want to apply for a license in the new South African gambling environment," he said.

Evelyn Masotja, the director for regulated industries at the trade and industry department, said the intention behind wanting to regulate the online gambling environment was to protect consumers, not to punish them, and to put proper control and monitoring systems in place.

"Players involved in interactive gambling currently play at their own risk and there's no regulatory environment to protect them," he said.

HOW PIGGS PEAK CASINO OFFERS ONLINE GAMBLING

The Times article quotes Howard Berchowitz, managing director of Casino Enterprises, trading as the Swaziland-based Piggs Peak Casino, who has owned the establishment since 1988. The business went online in 1997.

The company is currently in court with the Gambling Board to establish where the gambling is located. "I'm not professing to be licensed, or to be operating in SA. We advertise our land-based product here, and advertise the Internet vehicle on the Internet, but not in traditional media."

"We believe our gambling is happening in Swaziland, and we pay our taxes there," he said.

The online business has increased, and so has traditional gambling. Berchowitz said revenues from online gambling were "reasonable, but nowhere near where the bricks and mortar are at the moment, although I do believe the revenues will grow substantially."

Although there is no reliable information on the extent of interactive gambling, it is known that regulators have been trying to combat this practice.

Marasha said the local jurisdiction would allow Internet gambling if operators met the requirements of South African national technical standards.

For original Times article click here.

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