Online Casino Legality in South Africa will be decided in Bloemfontein

September 13, 2010

The legality of online casinos and online gambling has been a grey issue in South Africa for many years now. In the past there have been statements made that the government would license and regulate these activities but to date this has not come to pass never and there has been no solid legislature that either legalised or outlawed online casinos and gambling in the country.

Recently though, a legal case arose after Piggs Peak took action to defend itself against the Gauteng Gambling Board’s efforts to prevent the casino’s advertising campaigns from being aired by radio and TV stations in the province. The casino stated that they were not based in South Africa and operated in Swaziland which meant that all gambling took place on servers located in Swaziland and not in South Africa.

Judge NB Tachten of the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria dismissed the claim that interactive gambling took place outside of the province and on Piggs Peak’s servers as regulated in Swaziland, while also finding the Gauteng Gambling Board’s actions to be in line with powers ascribed by provincial and national gambling laws in South Africa. His ruling made online gambling at casinos in and by South Africans illegal when taking place at an unlicensed property. Currently South Africa has no licensing and regulation in place for online casinos, although betting online on horseracing and sports are licensed and regulated by various provincial authorities.

However, Pigg’s Peak won the right to appeal against the High Court’s decision last week and both they and Silver Sands Casino subsequently reopened to players last week pending the appeal.

The appeal is set to be heard in the Bloemfontein Appeal Court and although Pigg’s Peak did suspend operations after the initial judgement, the casino was soon back in action due to the fact that the leave to appeal allows the company to stay running. This statement was re-iterated by the company’s operations director, Lew Saul Koor who said “This good news entitles us to reopen the Internet Casino today in terms of the High Court rules which suspends the previous judgement”.

Silver Sands Casino also released a similar statement, saying “Please be advised that leave to appeal the decision by the High Court has been granted. This means that a decision regarding the legality of online gaming will be decided after the law has run its course. We can therefore resume our normal operations and continue offering online gaming services to the South African public.”

In spite of the appeal, the Gauteng Gambling Board (GGB) remains determined that they will win the appeal which will mean that online casinos will be outlawed until such time as they are licensed and regulated. A GGB spokesperson vowed that the organisation would continue to pursue operations conducting such businesses in what they term a “multi-pronged approach” including targeting ISPs, account processors and software providers.

As it currently stands, according to the parties involved, the subsequent appeal in the Bloemfontein Appeal Court at a future date will determine the legality of online gambling in South Africa.

Written by admin · Filed Under Casino News, General News | Comments Off