South Africa Not Keen To Push For Online Gambling Legalisation

There are a number of countries across the world that have taken steps in the last few years to legalize online gambling. The online gambling industry is a very lucrative market and most state governments impose heavy taxes which allow them to collect a nice share of revenue.

South Africa Not In Favor Of Online Gambling

The government South Africa realizes that there is strong market demand for iGaming services in the country. The National Gambling Act of 2004 bans online gambling in the country and the latest amendment to that act which was made in 2011 makes it clear that no legalized online gambling activities are permitted within South Africa.

There are a number of factors as to why the government is not pushing forward with a new bill to legalize online gambling. We take a look at some of these key factors:

Money Laundering: Criminals have always targeted the casino industry to wash their dirty money. Online casinos have become a primary target for money launderers in recent times and South Africa is not in a position as of now to fully police the online casino industry and hence cannot be certain that online casinos will not indulge in money laundering activities.

Problem Gambling: There is the concern that online gambling would increase the percentage of problem gamblers in South Africa. While most iGaming operators have tools to restrict problem gamblers from accessing their online gaming services, studies have shown that it isn’t enough to curtail the rise of problem gambling. The UK is one such example as problem gambling has become a major concern – especially with children.

Brick & Mortar Casinos: South Africa has a thriving land based casino industry which brings in significant revenue for the country and employs thousands of South Africans. If online gambling is legalized, the government is concerned that it would negatively impact these brick & mortar casinos and eat into their profits.

South Africa will not move forward with online gambling legislation until there are better solutions available to these concerns.