South African Province Bans Online Gambling

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It has been seen that when national legislation on online gambling gets mired in delays, provinces or states start taking their own decisions. It has happened once again, this time not in the United States or Canada but in South Africa. Unfortunately, Gauteng, the South African province that is involved has declared that online gambling is illegal.

The event that triggered this decision was a judgment of the North Gauteng High Court given on August 20 by Judge N.B. Tuchten. This judgment held that online gambling transactions in South Africa based on current law are illegal. The judgment further stated that both the domestic online gambling operator who offers the service to South African residents for gain and the player who avails of such online gambling service are guilty of violating the law. Judge Tuchten’s decision was delivered in the long running case in which the operators of the Swaziland based online casino Piggs Peak Online challenged the jurisdictional authority of South Africa. Their claim was that the presence of the online casino and the physical facilities were in a neighboring country and hence South African laws were not applicable.

The provincial Gauteng Gambling Board immediately be let it known through the media that online gambling is illegal and that it would henceforth prosecute offenders. The Business Times newspaper reported that several other parties to the online gambling process would also come within the purview of the law. These include Internet service providers who host the online gambling web sites and the financial institutions that process payments for the online betting transactions. Even the entities that advertise or facilitate the advertisement of online gambling, including radio and television stations, print media and outdoor advertising agencies, will be considered as conducting illegal activities. The Gauteng Gambling Board also let it be known that persons who are prosecuted and found guilty of engaging in online gambling could receive a fine of 10 million rands or ten years in jail or both. Lucky Lukhwareni, head of legal services of the Gauteng Gambling Board, told the newspaper, "That’s why we approached the media to alert them of the judgment which makes online casino operations illegal, and if they continue we will have them arrested and fight for conviction."

The national government in South Africa has declared its intent to legalize and regulate online gambling. But the entire issue has become entangled in investigatory commissions and parliamentary debates and there is no clear path ahead. Meanwhile the national government has remained silent on the provincial action in Gauteng.

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