Gambling Laws In South Africa
South African Gambling laws have gone through various levels of scrutiny in the years that it has been in service to the citizens of the country. To understand where the laws are at today, we take a look back to see where they came from. The first gambling restriction to ever hit South Africa came by way of Dutch imperialists as their rivalry with Great Britain started to gain momentum. In 1652, the Dutch founded a colony at the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, which caused European immigration in the cape to swell. As cultural assimilation took place through intermarriages there was a universal adoption of the Dutch language. In 1673, came the first formal gambling restriction to reach the colony. Although it was largely ignored by the inhabitants of South Africa, this persisted until 1965 where all forms of gambling aside from horse racing was formally outlawed.
Despite the more modern legislation, casinos were being operated in Bantustans around the 1970’s. There was estimated to be at least 2000 illegally operating casinos by 1995. However, in 1994, a new democracy was established in the country and all forms of gambling were legalized. Only two years later, gambling laws in South Africa would again, go through drastic change.
History Of Gambling Laws In South Africa
National Gambling Act of 1996
Gambling laws in South Africa are legislated in the National Gambling Act of 2004. According to this Act, which was amended in 2018, online gambling (or interactive gaming) and online casinos are illegal. While online gambling isn’t permitted within the borders of South Africa, South African players don’t have to. The South African Gambling Act of 1965 ruled gambling as illegal. Gambling, such as horseracing, was legal. The reason for this is because horseracing is considered a sport. In the 1970s, there were a number of illegal casinos created, with the number rising until there were about 2,000 illegal casinos in the mid 90s. South Africa Gambling History; Year Event; 1673: First gambling restrictions in the law, gambling in South Africa was banned by the Dutch settlers. The return of gambling did not occur until 1866-1867. 1965: Gambling act – gambling is banned. All forms of gamblnig are banned in.
The first democratic legislation in the country of South Africa to formally regulate gambling was the National Gambling Act of 1996. It established a system of legally operating casinos and instituted a single national lottery system. It formed the foundation for regulating gambling establishments in the country and with it came a set of uniform regulations and standards that all casinos seeking proper regulation had to conform to. They assigned meaning to previously vague definitions and gambling ideas while developing 40 gambling licenses that were to be distributed to the provinces and informed on how to distribute them. The 1996 law is responsible for the creation of the National Gambling Board that is still in function today and responsible for the regulation of all gambling activities in the country.
National Gambling Act 2004
Study Law In South Africa
The next major change made to legal online gambling in South Africa came by way of the Internet. The National Gambling Act of 1996 was too young to realize the potential of the Internet and therefore didn’t scrutinize how it should be used in terms of gambling. The 2004 Act was the first act to address SA gambling laws regarding online gambling and completely outlawed both offering interactive gambling games online and engaging in them. In doing so, it was established that sporting activities were excluded from that judgment. It was meant to be specifically applied to online casino games, poker, and bingo and subsequently left online sports gambling and pari-mutuel horse track wagering legal given the proper provincial licenses were obtained.
National Gambling Act 2008
In the lead-up to the National Gambling Act’s second major amendment, the 2008 Act, it became known that most of the country was consciously breaking South African gambling laws as they pertain to the internet with no consequences. The public knew they these laws were vastly unenforceable and proceeded to make up one of the largest online gambling communities in the world. After this was found out, there was a legislative attempt to stop this from happening. The method of this attempt wasn’t to try and convince people to stop, but rather, simply make online casino games, poker, and bingo, completely legal and taxable to generate revenue for South Africa. This attempt, however, did not succeed and the gambling laws in South Africa remained. The 2008 Act was confronted in its attempt and lobbied against by the land-based gambling establishments for fear of profit loss. They were accompanied by anti-money laundering authorities that were afraid online gambling could lead to even more nefarious activity.
Legal Gambling Age In South Africa
High Court Judgment 2010
As online gambling remained illegal for the most part in South Africa, SA gambling laws were vastly ignored by the population. South Africa became one of the most profitable customer markets for offshore online gambling operators, which led to the High Court Judgment of 2010. On August the 20th in 2010, the North Gauteng High Court banned offshore companies with servers that were not physically located in South Africa from any kind of online gambling within the country. Both the act of offering online gambling services and using them became illegal, simultaneously. The only two exceptions that were made were for the provincial licensed online sportsbooks and pari-mutuel horse and dog racing.
From this point on, not only were online casinos, poker, and bingo illegal in the country, they were illegal to take part in, advertise for, or facilitate in any manor. Individuals found in breach of the law are subject to a 10 million rand fine, or 10 years in prison. They made it clear that those broadcasting companies who showed advertisements for offshore online gambling companies, individual online gamblers, and banking establishments that process online gambling payments were all grouped into the same category as the online casino providers themselves and subject to the same consequences.
In May of 2017, Trade and Industry Minister, Rob Davies stated that the government of South Africa had seized 1.25 million rand from several parties associated with illegal gambling in the country. They made it clear that a crackdown is looming in South Africa and that they are serious about the consequences given to the crimes that they have outlined.
Provincial Gambling Regulation In South Africa
South Africa is made up of nine provinces that each independently regulate the gambling activity within their provinces. The National Gambling Board was set up in 1996 to regulate and enforce gambling laws in South Africa. They then set up the regulatory infrastructure for each of the provinces, establishing a gambling and racing board in each of them. Currently, The Western Cape Gambling and Race board has given out the most gambling licenses and has made no secret of their intention of using the online gambling industry to boost their revenue numbers.
Applicants must complete the application, which is substantial and file any related documents accordingly. They also must advertise that they have done so, and allow for the prospect of objections to be filed by any interested parties. Then, they must subject themselves to a hearing with the gambling and racing board in question.
What’s The National Gambling Age In South Africa?
What Is The Law On Gambling
The national gambling age was set with the first batch of legislation on gambling in the country. The minimum national gambling age of South Africa is 18. We recommend that you check with your local provincial gambling board to make sure it is legal for you to enter a casino as some have been known to have higher age restrictions set.
South Africa's Minister of Trade and Industry, Rob Davies, has tabled a new bill that sets out harsher rules and regulations for gambling in the country.
The 49-page Amendment Bill features mooted changes to how gambling is both structured and regulated in South Africa.
Measures set out include the National Gambling Board being repositioned as the country’s gambling regulator.
The bill also includes plans for a National Lotteries Commission to assume the regulation of all wagers on the national lottery, foreign lottery, lottery results and sports pools.
South Africa is also keen to clamp down on illegal gambling with all unlawful winnings to be forfeited to the National Gambling Regulator.
Elsewhere, should the bill pass, dog racing and all bets on the sport would be prohibited in South Africa, while a self-regulating body would be recognised in the horse racing industry.
Casinos, limited pay-out machines and bingo would face tougher regulations, with plans to limit both the number of bingo licences and machines, as well as to regulate electronic bingo.
New restrictions could also be placed on gambling premises and the location of automated tellers, with plans to introduce ‘separate’ and ‘hidden’ entrances at general public places, such as arcades and shopping malls.
Other changes include imposing new restrictions on gambling advertising, as well as providing for broad-based black economic empowerment within the industry.
The new Amendment Bill represents the latest move by South Africa to clamp down on gambling in the country, with the bill having existed in various forms since 2016.
Jason Foster, the head of iGaming and African markets at Chalkline Sports, a marketing technology platform that supports customer acquisition and retention for regulated gaming, told iGamingBusiness.com in April that mobile was driving growth in the South African gambling market.
Consultants at PwC estimate that South African GGR will grow by 24% this year.
“Driving forces include increased smartphone penetration, improved awareness of sportsbook brands, increased mobile data availability and the ability to conveniently transact from a smartphone,” Foster said.