South Africa’s Online Gambling Bill Might See An Amendment

South Africa has always had a long ambiguous online gambling bill. The ambiguity meant that players didn’t quite know where they stood and operators needed to employ tactics to skirt around legislative gray areas.

Thanks to the official opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, a new iGaming regulation bill might be enacted which will change the way South Africans interact with online casinos and the iGaming industry as a whole.

Where Does South Africa Stand in Terms of iGaming Regulation?

South Africa’s current online gambling legislation is ambiguous, to say the least. As it stands right now, online licenses need to be obtained from the individual provincial regulator such as the Western Cape or Gauteng. Essentially what that means is that only physical casinos can operate online if they have a license from the province that they’re in.

What ends up happening is online casino developers and providers end up establishing themselves on servers located overseas and then target a South African audience. Because enforcement of the already established rules is so lackluster, these online casinos have been allowed to operate simply because they haven’t been told to stop.

What About The Proposed Amendment?

The DA has proposed a tightening of restrictions around online casinos and the iGaming industry as a whole. Licenses will still need to be obtained at the provincial level but they wish to include a clause that allows for the objection to this process.

They also proposed that they want all online operators to be compliant with South Africa’s FICA Act (Financial Intelligence Centre Act).

Next, they want to regulate gambling ads that are played. They say that this is all in an effort “for the protection of minors and vulnerable persons”.

While the official wording of the new proposed legislation is yet to be released to the public, these are the key takeaways that the party wishes to take action.

What Can Be Done to Regulate Online Gambling in SA?

If you’re unhappy with these proposed changes to the online gambling regulation bill, then you need to make your voice heard.

The DA has proclaimed that stakeholders need to state their views on the proposed update to National Assembly Speaker, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula.

The Democratic Alliance calls for all comments around their changes to be submitted within 30 days of their publishing in the Government Gazette. After all public comments have been made, a final revised bill will be brought to parliament.