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.

The South African Responsible Gambling Foundation (SARGF) provides Free and Confidential Treatment and Counselling to those affected by Problem Gambling and their immediate family members. For the past 18 Years The SARGF has treated more than 18, 500 people.

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]

In 2004, another National Gambling Act repealed the Act of 1996.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.

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?

External links[edit]

Responsible gambling is the set of social responsibility initiatives by the gambling industry—including governments and gaming control boards, operators (such as casinos), and vendors—to ensure the integrity and fairness of their operations and to promote awareness of harms associated with gambling, such as gambling addiction.

• 1Areas

Areas[edit]

Gambling addiction[edit]

Commitments to promoting awareness of gambling addiction is included within the concept of responsible gambling, and can include customer-imposed limits and self-exclusion schemes. In the United Kingdom, several major banks have also offered the ability for customers to block gambling-related translations on their credit cards. NatWest introduced a pilot in October 2019 to allow GamCare appointments to be scheduled at selected branches.^[1] Earlier in the year, the UK also imposed bet limits on fixed odds betting terminals as part of an effort to control gambling addiction associated with them.^[2]

In the interest of combating addiction, gambling operators in the UK are also obliged to provide certain tools allowing players to restrict their own play^[3]. These include:

• Self Exclusion / Time Out - allowing players to put their account on temporary (reversible) hiatus.
• Reality Check - a pop-up is triggered at certain time intervals to remind players to take a break / stop playing.
• Time Limits - used for setting strict time limits on playing sessions.
• Deposit Limits / Account Tracker - used for enforcing a limit on deposits.
• Permanent Account Closure - lets players close their account cut off all contact from the gambling operator.

Underage gambling[edit]

The industry has also partaken in commitments to prevent those who are not appropriately-aged from participating in gambling activities.^[4] Key initiatives have included the efforts of the American Gaming Association (AGA), which adopted a comprehensive guideline for underage gambling, as well as the unattended minors guideline developed with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.^[5] In 2017, the organization announced a code of conduct for its members, which included specific training requirements for employees to deal with underage gaming.^[6]

Fraudulent and criminal behaviour[edit]

Operators are required^{[by whom?]} to implement anti-money laundering policies and procedures. This involves implementing effective know your customer processes when taking on new customers and tracking and reporting any suspicious transactions.^{[citation needed]}

Information privacy[edit]

Information privacy refers to the protection of customer data and records against unauthorised or unnecessary disclosure. Operators are required^{[by whom?]} to implement policies that ensure controls and measures are in place to prevent unauthorised disclosure and use of customer information. Customer information typically relates to data such as name, address, age, telephone number and email address.^{[citation needed]}

Prompt and accurate customer payments[edit]

Operators must ensure that payments to and from customer accounts must be conducted according to formal and documented processes in an accurate and timely manner. Operators typically ensure that customer funds are managed separately from their own accounts and that they have sufficient cleared funds to pay all player prize wins and outstanding player balances.^{[citation needed]}

Fair gaming[edit]

All gaming products should be tested to ensure they are fair and random and that they adhere to the rules of that game. Testing to ensure fair gaming is increasingly carried out by independent organisations.^{[citation needed]}

Ethical and responsible marketing[edit]

Operators should comply with the relevant regulatory advertising codes of practice which typically ensure that advertisements are factually correct and do not target underage or vulnerable gamblers, such as players who have self-excluded themselves from gambling. It is also expected that operators should seek permission from the customer prior to engaging in direct marketing through use of the customer’s personal details.^{[citation needed]}

Customer satisfaction[edit]

Customers should be able to freely make comments or complaints to operators and expect operators to have in place adequate processes and procedures to deal with complaints, either internally or via an independent third-party. For example, ecogra.org provides a mediation service for disputes between players and operators.^{[citation needed]}

Secure, safe and reliable operating environment[edit]

Operators are required^{[by whom?]} to demonstrate internal controls and processes that adhere to the licensing conditions as stipulated by the regulatory jurisdiction that issues gaming and gambling licenses. Internal controls should also be implemented to ensure that all operational, payment and technical systems and processes operate securely and effectively. In addition, operators need to demonstrate adequate business continuity management procedures to ensure that operations can continue in the event of unforeseen circumstances or disasters.^{[citation needed]}

Responsible gaming codes of conduct[edit]

To ensure operators, software suppliers and associated service providers uphold the principles of responsible gaming, codes of conduct have been developed by numerous regulators, trade associations and non-profit organisations. These competing and overlapping codes of conduct or standards have evolved over time due to the evolution of multiple legal and trade frameworks.

It has been acknowledged within the industry that given the large number of responsible gaming codes of conduct there is a need to step back and re-assess what is required within the industry.^[7] The European Committee for Standardisation is the process of developing Responsible Remote Gambling Measures that can protect customers and ensure that the remote gambling operators, software suppliers and associated service providers behave responsibly, which would be adopted on a voluntary basis.

Responsible gaming events[edit]

A number of industry events have been organised to help the industry promote responsible gaming practices. The European Gaming and Betting Association organised the EGBA Responsible Gaming Day conference in the European Parliament in October 2010. The World Lotteries Association has actively organised events for its members to discuss and promote best practice in terms of Responsible Gaming. The European Association for the Study of Gambling's 8th Annual Conference in September 2010 was attended by academics, policy makers and industry representatives and much of its themes and discussions centred on responsible gaming.

References[edit]

1. ^Davies, Rob (2019-10-30). 'NatWest to offer help to gambling addicts in high-street branches'. The Guardian. ISSN0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-10-30.
2. ^Davies, Rob (2018-05-17). 'Maximum stake for fixed-odds betting terminals cut to £2'. The Guardian. ISSN0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-10-30.
3. ^'Responsible Gambling: Be Aware And Know Your Limits | CasinoGuide'. www.casinoguide.co.uk. Retrieved 2019-11-05.
4. ^Derevensky, Jeffrey; Gupta, Rina (2004). Gambling Problems in Youth: Theoretical and Applied Perspectives. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers. p. 245. ISBN0306485850.
5. ^Shaffer, Howard; Hall, Matthew; Vander Bilt, Joni; George, Elizabeth (2003). Futures at Stake: Youth, Gambling, and Society. Reno: University of Nevada Press. p. 217. ISBN087417368X.
6. ^Garcia, Regina (2017-08-03). 'Associated Press - Casino industry in US has new rules for responsible gambling'. AGA. Retrieved 2018-09-04.
7. ^'Cass Knowledge'. Cass Business School - City, University of London.

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