Online Casino Gaming in South Africa Illegal

30 Nov 2006

With the growth of the online casino industry, many countries around the globe have legalized and regulated online casino gaming. However, there are still those countries, such as the US and South Africa, among others, that consider this popular pastime an illegal practice. Recently, a South African judge gave online casinos gaming optimists a moment to think things over when he gave a judgment that decreed unlicensed gambling in the country as illegal. Online gamblers in South Africa could be fined up to Rands 10 million (GBP 735,000) or jailed for up to 10 years in terms of current legislation if caught gambling online. Hopefully, this law will be reversed if the government decides to follow recommendations to legalize the pastime following extensive research.

Judge Willie Hartzenberg dismissed an application by Casino Enterprises of Swaziland to allow residents of the populous Gauteng province to legally gamble at online casino sites. ‘One thinks of licensing of casinos and of a levy on turnover. All monies spent on casino gambling must contribute to the coffers of the state or the province. It is difficult to see why the Swaziland legislation, in terms of which the plaintiff obtained its casino license, can have extra-territorial operation. In other words, why actions of the plaintiff within the borders of the Republic are sanctioned by the Swaziland license,’ he said.

He also explained that the only way that the government could guarantee that it maintained proper controls of online casino gambling was if only licensed casinos were permitted to operate.The Gauteng Gambling Board upheld the court’s decision as a groundbreaking one and maintained that online casino gaming was against the law. The board warned gamers, organizations, banks and Internet providers, which advertise or facilitate online casino gaming, that they would be prosecuted if discovered.