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Confusion and Chaos: Are South African Online Casinos legal or not?

The reality is that there is no good answer to this question; thus the seemingly never ending controversy with online gambling in South Africa.

What’s going on here, why is there no clear answer? Start with some facts. One fact you want to be aware of is a decision way back in 2011. At that time, the existing government of South Africa clearly declared that offering what they termed “Internet Gambling” was prohibited. Moreover, when this proclamation was challenged in court, the Supreme Court sided with the government. Thus, at first look it would appear that South Africans are out of luck if they wish to play their favorite games with an online casino instead of visiting a local land based casino.

But hold on, not so fast. There is a bit more to this tale than first meets the eye. Look back to the original proclamation; the law stated that it is illegal to offer online gambling to citizens of South Africa. Do you see it? Do you spot the obvious workaround here? Sure, it’s easy to see. The law only addresses online gambling hosts or operators. It doesn’t really say anything about the ordinary South African citizen at all.

What does this mean? Keep in mind that current gaming laws in South Africa are set up to prevent online gambling companies from doing business with the South African citizens. The other way to look at this is to note the law doesn’t really say anything about the ordinary South African. You could say that individual players from South African who put up their hard earned money to play at online casinos aren’t really facing any risk at all (assuming the player is at reputable online casino, of course). As of now, there aren’t any laws specifically prohibiting an ordinary South African citizen from enjoying his favorite online casino at all. The real risk is still with the online casino operator or perhaps the host of the online casino.

Bottom line is this. Right now the laws in South Africa are only against online casino companies and not the ordinary citizen. There are no specific laws that apply to any sort of online betting by ordinary South African citizens. Although this may change in the future, at the present time any South African online casino player can still enjoy online gambling with no fear of breaking the law. The reality is that there is no good answer to this question; thus the seemingly never ending controversy with online gambling in South Africa.

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