It was reported that yesterday, a bill concerning the regulation of the South African remote gambling market was presented for discussion to the country’s government. According to experts, however, it will not be particularly welcomed by the regulator as back in January, it stated that it did not approve of the legalization of online gambling activities.
The legislation was proposed by Geordin Hill-Lewis, member of the Democratic Alliance, the opposition party in the country’s parliament. Under it, all variations of online gambling would be legalized and strictly regulated. This will happen by means of a special framework for license granting.
Generally speaking, the bill is not in many ways different from the one proposed back in 2014. Yet, it was reviewed in January 2015 and Mr. Hill-Lewis decided that it should be submitted once again. As mentioned above, its purpose is for a special licensing framework to be implemented. The process of granting a license will be responsibility of both provincial governments and a special national board.
What is more, Mr. Hill-Lewis’ bill suggests that all employees involved in any way with an online gambling company should be thoroughly checked and provided with an individual license. As for operators, they will have to stick to certain rules and to promote responsible gambling in the country.
Although the proposal is not likely to pass, it will certainly give rise to heated debates over the legalization and the proper regulation of online gambling activities on the territory of South Africa.
Last year, the approval of the bill seemed absolutely possible. Yet, the dismissal of the National Gambling Board after allegations suggesting corruption, excessive spending, and maladministration extinguished all hopes for success.
Meanwhile, earlier today, the Casino Association of South Africa announced that the country has lost a total of ZAR110 million (US$9.4 million) in tax revenue due to illegal gambling activities on its territory.
Themba Ngobese, chief executive officer of the association, pointed out that the country’s economy is heavily dependent on its revenue from taxes. He shared that the legalized casino industry contributed the substantial amount of ZAR4.5 billion (US$385.8 million) in tax revenue in 2014.
Yet, Mr. Ngobese commented that the unregulated remote gambling industry, which seems to be quite aggressive, as he himself called it, is one of the major reasons why gaming revenues’ growth dropped from 10% in fiscal year 2012/13 to 0.6% in 2013/14.
It seems that no less than 5% of the revenue decrease can be attributed to substantial amounts of money being transferred to illegal gambling enterprises in 2014.
Mr. Ngobese shared with local media that the 5% revenue loss equals to ZAR110 million. He also said that currently, certain illegal online operators are investigated and will be prosecuted.
