Gambling in South Africa
Starting from 1673 Gambling in South Africa was heavily restricted with the Gambling Act of 1965 officially banning all forms except betting on horse racing which existed as a sport activity. [1]
In the late 1970s casinos started operating in the bantustans (the nominally independent areas called homelands) of Bophuthatswana, Ciskei, Transkei and Venda. Only native South Africans lived there and most citizens couldn't access those gaming establishments. By 1995 an estimated 2000 illegal casinos were believed to be operating within the country. In 1994, when the new democratic government came to power, all forms of gambling were legalised. In 1996 the National Gambling Act instituted a system of licensed casinos and a single national lottery. Horse racing was also proclaimed gambling activity. [2] [3]
The National Gambling Act of 1996 made provisions for the regulation of gambling activities and promotion of uniform norms and standards in relation to gambling throughout the country. It gave definitions to different gambling notions, described how the 40 gambling licenses should be distributed among the provinces and provided information on liability. It also established the National Gambling Board, an organization responsible for the supervision and regulation of the gambling industry. A change in legislation saw the establishment of legal casinos, a national lottery and other forms of gaming. [4]
In 2004, another National Gambling Act repealed the Act of 1996. And in 2008 The National Gambling Amendment Act was introduced.
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[edit] Prevalence and value
According to a 2006 study the most popular forms of gambling in South Africa were the National Lottery (86.9% participation), slot machines (27.7% participation), scratchcards (22.7% participation), charity jackpot competitions (11.6% participation) and horse racing betting (11.5% participation). 8.3% of respondents said they never gambled and a further 5.5% characterised themselves as occasional game players with no regular forms of gambling.[5]
In the 2006/2007 financial year licensed gross gambling revenue as monitored by the National Gambling Board totaled R13.52 billion, from R11.4 billion the previous year. 86.2 percent of that revenue was derived in casinos.[6] In the same period the Board reported a total of 455 raids on and closures of presumed illegal gambling operations.[7]
[edit] Types of gambling
[edit] South African National Lottery
The South African National Lottery was established in 2000 and has been in continuous operation since, apart from a suspension between April 2007 and October 2007. In its last year of operation transaction values totaled R3.972 billion, with an average of five million transactions per week, making it the most popular form of gambling in South Africa.
[edit] Casinos
Casinos operate in all metropolitan areas in South Africa.
[edit] Horse racing
On-track betting on horse races was the only legal form of gambling in South African until 1996. Due to its complexity and the difficulty of attracting new players it did not effectively compete with the newly-introduced National Lottery and casino games.[8]
Betting on horse races is controlled by Saftote and operated by Gold Circle in KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape and by Phumelela in the remainder of the country.[9]
[edit] Interactive gambling
[10] The National Gambling Act 2004 prohibited both offering interactive gambling services and engaging in interactive games (games on the Internet). This rule applies to all online operators, licensed in any jurisdiction. Only online sports betting was made an exception.
The National Gambling Amendment Act of 2008 that was published in July 2008 was meant to be an attempt to legalize interactive gambling in the country and make provisions for the regulation of this market. The Amendment Act was actively confronted by the interested parties (land-based gambling houses and anti-money laundering authorities). For this reason, the Act hasn't come into power yet.
On 20 August 2010 even online gambling offered through servers located outside the country was banned in South Africa. This was the result of the North Gauteng High Court judgement on the jurisdiction of online gambling transactions in the country. Consequently, both offering gambling services online and gambling online became illegal. Casino sites, individuals, internet service providers and banks that process payments for online gamblers are subject to a fine of R 10 million or 10 years of imprisonment, or both. Mass media channels that transmit or facilitate advertisement of online gambling services (TV and radio, newspapers and magazines, outdoor advertising agencies) are also to be held liable. [11]
The South African Department of Trade and Industry also suggested to consider penny auctions a type of online gambling and illegalize them. The National Gambling Amendment Act of 2008 may come into force after an appeal to a high court ruling against “interactive gambling” is heard. [12]
[edit] References
- ^ Gambling in South Africa
- ^ Stephen P. Rule, Terezinha Da Silva, Chris Sibanyoni (2000). The Social Impact of Gambling in South Africa. HSRC Press. p. 8. ISBN 0-7969-1971-2. http://books.google.co.za/books?id=5yTlT6F5XAUC.
- ^ Racing and Betting
- ^ National Gambling Act, 1996 [No. 33 of 1996 - G 17307]
- ^ "Problem Gambling Prevalence Study 2006". National Responsible Gambling Programme. http://www.responsiblegambling.co.za/media/user/documents/NRGP%20Prevalence%20Study%202006.pdf. Retrieved 22 September 2008.
- ^ "National gambling statistics for the financial year ending 31 March 2007". National Gambling Board. http://www.ngb.org.za/home.asp?pid=138. Retrieved 22 September 2008.
- ^ "Illegal Gambling statistics for the financial year ending 31 March 2006". National Gambling Board. http://www.ngb.org.za/home.asp?pid=139. Retrieved 22 September 2008.
- ^ "Speech by Thibedi Majake (CEO of the National Gambling Board) at the 2006 national convention of Racing South Africa". Racing South Africa. http://www.racingsouthafrica.com/Documents/Convention_Speeches/Keynote_Address.doc. Retrieved 22 September 2008.[dead link]
- ^ "Sport: Horse racing in South Africa". SouthAfrica.info. http://www.southafrica.info/about/sport/horseracing.htm. Retrieved 22 September 2008.
- ^ Online Gambling Remains Unlawful in South Africa
- ^ Online Gambling Banned in Africa
- ^ Online Gambling in SA: Is It Legal?
[edit] External links
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