South Africa Trying to Regulate Gambling
Thursday, April 29th, 2010The topic of online gambling is a big one in the world today. Almost every country is now debating over whether or not online gambling is the way to go in terms of finding additional tax-revenue options. The recession was difficult on communities all over the world and gambling is one of few ways legislators see to build up the millions needed to overcome the deficits. One country that is having problems implementing rules is South Africa. Back in 2008 the country passed a range of laws that were meant to help regulate online casino gambling activity. Much like the US-passed bill called the UIGEA, the South African laws for the most part failed.
The failure of the South African implementation of rules regarding gambling wasn’t due to the same reasons the UIGEA failed for the US. The US saw failure because gamers who were unable to wager online in the US quickly opted for casinos that were offshore. This of course meant they also were channeling millions of dollars into the other countries and the US was losing the money. Now that the US legislators realize the potential money that could come in from legalizing online gambling, they are quickly working to rewrite the laws.
South Africa for the most part had rules that could have worked but the government showed a true reluctance to implement them. Again the problem was that people who wanted to gamble moved to offshore companies that were able to handle their gaming needs. Again- the result was the same. South Africa, like the US, lost millions of dollars in revenue. Now the country is trying to rectify the problem. A few weeks ago the National Gambling Review Commission did a survey that proved how denying the implementation of standing laws regarding gambling is increasing the number of illegal gambling activity in the country. Their solution is to allow ten casino operators to request licensing and start up their own online companies to handle gambling. It is the beginning of a bigger implementation process and is said to help usher in more and more companies throughout the coming years.

