Northern Cape Province Establishes New 6-Man Gambling Board

A new Northern Cape Gambling Board (NCGB) was established recently, consisting of a newly elected team of six members. The previous board was dissolved by the Northern Cape MEC for Finance, Economic Development and Tourism, MackJack, earlier this year.

The NCGB consists of a chairperson and a deputy chairperson, as well as four other members.

Jack’s decision to dissolve the previous Gambling Board under the terms of the Northern Cape Gambling Act (2008), came after the board “malfunctioned” following the resignation of two of its members.

Jack said in a statement that “the two remaining members did not constitute a quorum, so it was therefore in the public interest to disband the board with immediate effect.”

After the dissolution of the previous gambling board, the province appointed an accounting authority to deal with financial matters, however, very soon a serious backlog was created in license applications and queries relating to licensing and other matters.

“For the purpose of the issuing, revoking, suspension, transfer and amendment or removal of licenses, the powers lie with the board and that cannot be delated [under the Public Finance Management Act],” said Jack,” hence, this resulted in a serious backlog.”

When welcoming the new members of the Northern Cape Gambling Board, Mack Jack asked that they deal with the province’s industry with distinction, goodwill, commitment and passion.

He urged them to prioritize the gambling license applications that they will be faced with in their new capacity.

“Bookmaker applications and limited payout machine site applications are what you will hit the ground running with,” he said.

Jack warned that illegal gambling is on the rise across the province, and that it was overshadowed by “massive illegal online and land-based gambling, which has gained momentum in recent years.”

On welcoming the board, Jack said that it was not only expected to issue licenses, but also to work with the communities in the Northern Cape in order to strengthen the battle against illegal gambling and gambling addiction.

Two of the new board members, LahluMabula and Thabo Thobeli also filled posts on the Northern Cape Liquor Board.