A South African legislator is preparing to introduce a bill that would allow the country’s residents to legally enjoy online casino gambling. Under the country’s 2008 National Gambling Act, sports betting is the only permissible form of online wagering, but the new law would authorize operators to offer additional gaming products.
eGamingReview obtained a copy of the draft bill by MP Geordin Hill-Lewis (pictured), which the legislator hopes to introduce into parliament “in the coming months.” Hill-Lewis is the shadow minister of trade and industry for the opposition Democratic Alliance party and was the country’s youngest MP when he took his seat in parliament in 2012 at the tender age of 24 years.
As written, Hill-Lewis’ bill would require online operators to apply for separate licenses in each of South Africa’s 10 provinces, similar to the regulatory situation in Australia. Provincial licensing agencies would be responsible for vetting each applicant seeking to do business within their territory – be they operators or technology suppliers – but a national board would be established to ensure consistent “norms and standards” across the country. For example, gambling on credit would not be permitted in any form.
Hill-Lewis envisions a scenario in which provinces would be able to set their own taxation rates, but gaming attorney Wayne Lurie believes a national rate would be fixed to avoid provinces undercutting each other. Lurie suggested a 6% tax on gross gaming revenue is likely, 70% of which would be kept by the provinces with the national government collecting the rest.
Hill-Lewis is not a member of the country’s ruling African National Congress party, so passage of his bill is far from assured. But assuming the bill survives the legislative process and becomes law, the government would require an additional six months in which to craft regulatory standards. Lurie suggested that if operators were allowed to apply for licenses before these standards were finalized, South Africans could be playing online casino games before the year’s out. That timeline could be stretched to 18 months if operators are required to hold off applying until regulators have dotted all their I’s.
South Africa has taken a long and torturous route to get to this point. In August, Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies announced plans to set up a national gaming regulator to oversee issues including online gambling, but he’s been saying this for years. In the meantime, the government has acted to prevent international operators like Swaziland-based Piggs Peak from offering forbidden services to South African punters who wished to do more than bet on sports online. Only time will tell whether Hill-Lewis’ bill is the answer to punters’ prayers or just another false alarm.
