According to the National Gambling Board of South Africa, the term “online gambling” refers to online casino, poker, and bingo games and has been deemed illegal. Section 11 of the National Gambling Act 2004 reads, “Person must not engage in or make available an interactive game except as authorized in terms of this Act or any other national law.”. Legal South African Online Poker Sites for 2020 The only types of online gambling sites that can legally be licensed in South Africa are online betting sites. However, that has not stopped many poker sites that are located in different countries of the world offering their real money poker games and poker tournaments to players based in South.

Is SA online gambling legal? This is probably one of the most frequently asked questions in the country and many may have found themselves wondering whether playing their favourite games is a move that could see them facing a hefty fine or worse, jail time. Well, online gambling in SA is currently in a grey area and though there is a lot of legislation governing it, there are a few loopholes that make it open to interpretation. If you’re concerned about playing online, understanding the history of the laws passed about online gambling as well as the current state of affairs may go a long way to giving you some insight into the situation.

Going Back a Few Years

Gambling in South Africa as a whole has had a pretty rocky past and though today you can visit big entertainment hubs such as Emperor’s Palace, Montecasino and Grand West Casino and play just about any game your heart desires, there was a time when playing any games for a chance to win money was against the law. The 1965 Gambling Act saw horse racing become legal in South Africa but other games were completely banned.
Of course, as tends to happen when governments place a ban on any popular form of entertainment, people sidestepped the government and started setting up casinos that were illegal and by the time the 1994 democratic elections came along, there were thousands of these establishments in operation. After Nelson Mandela became the first democratically elected president of South Africa, he changed the law to allow some gambling in the country and licensed casinos were established in which people could play the games they enjoyed. Many people thought that the next logical step would see online gambling becoming legal but this was vetoed in 2010 by the Gauteng Gambling Board.

How About Today?

So if the term legal online casino is a paradox in SA, you may be wondering how it’s possible that some people play and haven’t been thrown in jail. Well, it’s not that simple. A 2008 Act states that the government was willing to legalise online casinos, which are not considered to be ‘illegal’ as much as ‘not regulated’. The difference here is key to understanding what you can and can’t do in regards to online casinos. Many people interpret this to mean that they cannot play at an online casino that actually operates within the borders of the country, that is, it has offices and employees in the country. This could be interpreted to mean that so-called ‘legal’ online casinos are those that offer services to South African players, but don’t actually operate in South Africa.
Two very interesting parts of SA online gambling legalisation (which can be found on the National Gambling Board website: http://www.ngb.org.za/faqs.aspx) state that, “A person must not engage in or make available an interactive game except as authorised in terms of this Act or any other national law.” Additionally, it states that “Online betting is legal with a licensed South African bookmaker.” These statements are confusing to the layperson, to say the least, which is why many people say that the law regarding SA online casinos is open to interpretation.

Should SA Online Casinos be Legal?

There are many academics, especially economists, who are of the opinion that online gambling should be completely legal in South Africa and they may have good reason to think this. A recent Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) report on gambling revenues stated that in 2014, the sector brought revenues of R23.9-billion, an amount that is predicted to rise to R30.3-billion in 2019. In terms of taxes, it was reported that the total amount received by the government in taxes from casinos was a staggering R2.5-billion in 2014 with sports betting (especially horse racing) and EBTs (Electronic Bingo Terminals) doing well in terms of revenue collection.
These figures are based solely on legal casinos, the national lottery, EBTs and sports betting and do not take into account the online casinos that are currently considered to be ‘not regulated’. Considering the rather uncertain economic climate South Africa is currently facing, and the high taxes both private citizens and businesses face, economists have posed a very important question in regards to the legality of online casinos in South Africa, i.e. how much money could be going into South Africa’s coffers if online gambling was legal? Though this would be a very difficult figure to predict, it does set the mind to wondering just how much larger our GDP (Gross Domestic Product) could be if the government declared SA online gambling legal.

The Future of Online Casinos in SA

So what will the future bring? Will we see the South African government give SA players the chance to play when and where they want to? In all likelihood, this is not something the government is too focused on given the current state of affairs but should a more permanent Finance Minister be selected, we may see a big change how the moneymaking potential of online casinos is handled.

Gambling in South Africa has been heavily restricted since 1673, with South Africa's Gambling Act of 1965 officially banning all forms of gambling except betting on horse racing which existed as a sporting activity.

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.^[1]

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 organisation responsible for the supervision and regulation of the gambling industry. This change in legislation saw the establishment of legal casinos, a national lottery and other forms of gaming.^[2]

What Makes Gambling Illegal

In 2004, another National Gambling Act repealed the Act of 1996. And in 2008 The National Gambling Amendment Act was introduced.

• 2Types of gambling
• 3Online gambling

Prevalence and value[edit]

According to the 2006 study the most popular forms of gambling in South Africa were the National Lottery (96.9% 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 have never gambled and a further 5.5% characterised themselves as occasional game players with no regular forms of gambling.^[3]

In the 2006/2007 financial year licensed gross gambling revenue as monitored by the National Gambling Board totalled R13.52 billion, from R11.4 billion the previous year. 86.2 percent of that revenue was derived in casinos.^[4] In the same period the Board reported a total of 455 raids on and closures of presumed illegal gambling operations.^[5]

South Africa’s gambling revenues are projected to rise to R30 billion in 2019, according to a new report. The South African gambling industry – including casinos, sports betting, the National Lottery, limited payout machines and bingo – achieved gross gambling revenue of R26.3bn in 2016.

Types of gambling[edit]

South African National Lottery[edit]

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 totalled R3.972 billion, with an average of five million transactions per week, making it the most popular form of gambling in South Africa. South Africa known as one of the largest countries participate in UK49s lottery draw operated by Ladbrokes Coral.

Gambling revenue from the National Lottery is projected to increase to R2.33 billion in 2019.^[6]

Casinos[edit]

Casinos operate in all metropolitan areas in South Africa. With the largest being the Rio Casino Resort, which is also the largest casino in Africa and the fifth-largest casino in the world.^{[citation needed]} Tsogo Sun Montecasino, also located in Johannesburg, is another of South Africa's largest casinos.

Horse racing[edit]

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.^[7]

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.^[8]

Online gambling[edit]

Licensed gambling sites[edit]

Each of South Africa's nine provinces has a gambling and racing board. To offer online betting bookies must be licensed by one of these boards. Currently the Western Cape Gambling and Racing Board (WCGRB) is largest provider of online bookmaker licenses.^[9] South Africa residents can use these online betting sites legally. For bets involving horse racing 6% is deducted from winning to cover VAT. As of May 2012, no additional tax is charged to recreational bettors, and recreational gambling winnings are not considered income for income tax purposes.^[10]

Online gaming laws[edit]

The National Gambling Act 2004 prohibited both offering interactive gambling services and engaging in interactive games (games on the Internet).^[11] This rule applies to all online operators, licensed in any jurisdiction. It's however important to note interactive gambling relates specifically to games such as casino, poker and bingo. Online sports betting, online horse race betting and the business of bookmaking is lawful in South Africa, provided that the person conducting such business holds the necessary provincial bookmaker's licence(s), or is using a website with proper licence(s).

The National Gambling Amendment Act of 2008 that was published in July 2008 was meant to be an attempt to legalise 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.

What States Is Gambling Illegal

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. The only exceptions are province licensed horse racing and online sports betting. 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.^[12]

The South African Department of Trade and Industry also suggested to consider penny auctions a type of online gambling and illegalise 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.^[13]

References[edit]

1. ^Stephen P. Rule; Terezinha Da Silva; Chris Sibanyoni (2000). The Social Impact of Gambling in South Africa. HSRC Press. p. 8. ISBN0-7969-1971-2.
2. ^National Gambling Act, 1996 [No. 33 of 1996] – G 17307
3. ^'Problem Gambling Prevalence Study 2006'(PDF). National Responsible Gambling Programme. Archived from the original(PDF) on 9 October 2006. Retrieved 22 September 2008.
4. ^'National gambling statistics for the financial year ending 31 March 2007'. National Gambling Board. Archived from the original on 7 October 2008. Retrieved 22 September 2008.
5. ^'Illegal Gambling statistics for the financial year ending 31 March 2006'. National Gambling Board. Archived from the original on 6 August 2007. Retrieved 22 September 2008.
6. ^'How much is the South African gambling market worth?'. www.bettinggods.com. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
7. ^'Speech by Thibedi Majake (CEO of the National Gambling Board) at the 2006 national convention of Racing South Africa'. Racing South Africa. Retrieved 22 September 2008.^{[dead link]}
8. ^'Sport: Horse racing in South Africa'. SouthAfrica.info. Archived from the original on 16 September 2008. Retrieved 22 September 2008.
9. ^WCGRB Licensed Betting Sites
10. ^Legal South Africa Betting Sites
11. ^'Online Gambling Remains Unlawful in South Africa'. Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
12. ^Online Gambling Banned in Africa
13. ^Online Gambling in SA: Is It Legal?

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