Online Gambling in South Africa Going No Where?
So seems to be the message that the government of South Africa is sending to its residents. As you might have guessed, this is all about the supposed legalization of online gambling in South Africa. However, despite the hopes of many online casino fans, that fabled legalization seems to be stuck in a land of never can and never will.
Here is what is going on. You may remember learning about the Remote Gambling Bill. As recently as April of this year (2014), officials released what was touted as a preliminary version of a entirely new online gambling bill. This bill would have finally set the rules straight about online casinos and online gambling operators within South Africa. There were all sorts of provisions in this early release that led many observers, both within South Africa and from outside to believe that the end was near, that at last South Africa was going to take the next obvious step and legalize at least some form of online gambling.
Alas, the most recent developments point to not so rosy a picture. To put it bluntly, it sure looks like the government is doing everything in its power to slow down the process. In other words, you could reasonably say that officials are dragging their feet.
It turns out that The Remote Gambling Bill had to in fact be re-gazetted recently. In essence, it turns out that the time limit had already elapsed since the Bill was initially released for public comment. With this latest move, the Bill needs to be re-scheduled for public comment.
According to the Democratic Alliance shadow minister Geordin Hill-Lewis this was caused in large part due to a series of discussions with Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in order to come to a more unified stance. Hill Lewis went on to explain that in his opinion, the DTI had not yet even developed a policy position they could support and in fact seemed to be leaning more towards an outright prohibition.
Hill-Lewis made it clear that he is clear that he is moving ahead with his bill and will make sure it will be taken up by Parliament as soon as January of next year. So what does this mean for the average everyday South Africa online casino player?
Actually not so much. Since most online casino players go to offshore online gambling operators anyway not much will change. Sadly however, South Africa is implicitly letting it be known that they don’t even care so much if the money keeps moving offshore. Only time will tell if this new improved Remote Gambling Bill will make it next year.