South Africa Plans New Online Gambling Regulation

3 Sep 2007

Contrary to the US stance, more and more countries around the world are starting to realize that the right way to treat online gambling is by legalizing and regulating it, not by banning it. Apparently, the next country in line may be South Africa. According to the local Business Day newspaper, the Department of Trade and Industry in the South African government has already proposed a legislation that will try to regulate the operation of online casino sites in the country. Even though this move has been anticipated for some time now, it seems now that the plan is starting to gain some positive momentum.

The proposed South African legislation comes after the review of a comprehensive online gambling study, conducted almost 2 years ago, which came to the conclusion that regulation may be the most efficient and intelligent way to deal with the rise of online casino sites worldwide. The country’s Trade and Industry Minister, Mandisi Mpahlwa, has already said in the past that in his opinion, the online gambling industry should be regulated, not banned, in order to prevent crime and protect the players

Even though not all of the details are known right now, some of the measures for online gambling regulation, as seen by the South African Department of Trade and Industry, were revealed. First, and maybe most importantly, online casino sites will be required to immediately credit the account of a player who wins a monetary prize. In addition, only players older than 18 years of age and with an account at an authorized financial institution will be able to sign up at the online casinos.

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