1. Online Casinos In South Africa
2. Silver Sands Casino South Africa
3. Europa Casino South Africa
4. Sun City Casino South Africa

Gambling in South Africa has been heavily restricted since 1673, with South Africa's Gambling Act of 1965 officially banning all forms of gambling except betting on horse racing which existed as a sporting activity.

Casino Association of South Africa to Launch Campaign Against Illegal Online Gambling 17th January 2015 // Industry, News. South Africa’s leading casino group is not exactly against online poker, but as long as online gaming is illegal in the country, it will be working to thwart its spread.

In the late 1970s casinos started operating in the bantustans (the nominally independent areas called homelands) of Bophuthatswana, Ciskei, Transkei and Venda. Only native South Africans lived there and most citizens couldn't access those gaming establishments. By 1995 an estimated 2000 illegal casinos were believed to be operating within the country. In 1994, when the new democratic government came to power, all forms of gambling were legalised. In 1996 the National Gambling Act instituted a system of licensed casinos and a single national lottery. Horse racing was also proclaimed gambling activity.^[1]

The National Gambling Act of 1996 made provisions for the regulation of gambling activities and promotion of uniform norms and standards in relation to gambling throughout the country. It gave definitions to different gambling notions, described how the 40 gambling licenses should be distributed among the provinces and provided information on liability. It also established the National Gambling Board, an organisation responsible for the supervision and regulation of the gambling industry. This change in legislation saw the establishment of legal casinos, a national lottery and other forms of gaming.^[2]

In 2004, another National Gambling Act repealed the Act of 1996. And in 2008 The National Gambling Amendment Act was introduced.

• 2Types of gambling
• 3Online gambling

Prevalence and value[edit]

According to the 2006 study the most popular forms of gambling in South Africa were the National Lottery (96.9% participation), slot machines (27.7% participation), scratchcards (22.7% participation), charity jackpot competitions (11.6% participation) and horse racing betting (11.5% participation). 8.3% of respondents said they have never gambled and a further 5.5% characterised themselves as occasional game players with no regular forms of gambling.^[3]

In the 2006/2007 financial year licensed gross gambling revenue as monitored by the National Gambling Board totalled R13.52 billion, from R11.4 billion the previous year. 86.2 percent of that revenue was derived in casinos.^[4] In the same period the Board reported a total of 455 raids on and closures of presumed illegal gambling operations.^[5]

South Africa’s gambling revenues are projected to rise to R30 billion in 2019, according to a new report. The South African gambling industry – including casinos, sports betting, the National Lottery, limited payout machines and bingo – achieved gross gambling revenue of R26.3bn in 2016.

Types of gambling[edit]

South African National Lottery[edit]

The South African National Lottery was established in 2000 and has been in continuous operation since, apart from a suspension between April 2007 and October 2007. In its last year of operation transaction values totalled R3.972 billion, with an average of five million transactions per week, making it the most popular form of gambling in South Africa. South Africa known as one of the largest countries participate in UK49s lottery draw operated by Ladbrokes Coral.

Gambling revenue from the National Lottery is projected to increase to R2.33 billion in 2019.^[6]

Casinos[edit]

Casinos operate in all metropolitan areas in South Africa. With the largest being the Rio Casino Resort, which is also the largest casino in Africa and the fifth-largest casino in the world.^{[citation needed]} Tsogo Sun Montecasino, also located in Johannesburg, is another of South Africa's largest casinos.

Horse racing[edit]

On-track betting on horse races was the only legal form of gambling in South African until 1996. Due to its complexity and the difficulty of attracting new players it did not effectively compete with the newly introduced National Lottery and casino games.^[7]

Betting on horse races is controlled by Saftote and operated by Gold Circle in KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape and by Phumelela in the remainder of the country.^[8]

Online Casinos In South Africa

Online gambling[edit]

Licensed gambling sites[edit]

Each of South Africa's nine provinces has a gambling and racing board. To offer online betting bookies must be licensed by one of these boards. Currently the Western Cape Gambling and Racing Board (WCGRB) is largest provider of online bookmaker licenses.^[9] South Africa residents can use these online betting sites legally. For bets involving horse racing 6% is deducted from winning to cover VAT. As of May 2012, no additional tax is charged to recreational bettors, and recreational gambling winnings are not considered income for income tax purposes.^[10]

Online gaming laws[edit]

The National Gambling Act 2004 prohibited both offering interactive gambling services and engaging in interactive games (games on the Internet).^[11] This rule applies to all online operators, licensed in any jurisdiction. It's however important to note interactive gambling relates specifically to games such as casino, poker and bingo. Online sports betting, online horse race betting and the business of bookmaking is lawful in South Africa, provided that the person conducting such business holds the necessary provincial bookmaker's licence(s), or is using a website with proper licence(s).

The National Gambling Amendment Act of 2008 that was published in July 2008 was meant to be an attempt to legalise interactive gambling in the country and make provisions for the regulation of this market. The Amendment Act was actively confronted by the interested parties (land-based gambling houses and anti-money laundering authorities). For this reason, the Act hasn't come into power yet.

On 20 August 2010 even online gambling offered through servers located outside the country was banned in South Africa. This was the result of the North Gauteng High Court judgement on the jurisdiction of online gambling transactions in the country. Consequently, both offering gambling services online and gambling online became illegal. The only exceptions are province licensed horse racing and online sports betting. Casino sites, individuals, internet service providers and banks that process payments for online gamblers are subject to a fine of R 10 million or 10 years of imprisonment, or both. Mass media channels that transmit or facilitate advertisement of online gambling services (TV and radio, newspapers and magazines, outdoor advertising agencies) are also to be held liable.^[12]

The South African Department of Trade and Industry also suggested to consider penny auctions a type of online gambling and illegalise them. The National Gambling Amendment Act of 2008 may come into force after an appeal to a high court ruling against 'interactive gambling' is heard.^[13]

References[edit]

1. ^Stephen P. Rule; Terezinha Da Silva; Chris Sibanyoni (2000). The Social Impact of Gambling in South Africa. HSRC Press. p. 8. ISBN0-7969-1971-2.
2. ^National Gambling Act, 1996 [No. 33 of 1996] – G 17307
3. ^'Problem Gambling Prevalence Study 2006'(PDF). National Responsible Gambling Programme. Archived from the original(PDF) on 9 October 2006. Retrieved 22 September 2008.
4. ^'National gambling statistics for the financial year ending 31 March 2007'. National Gambling Board. Archived from the original on 7 October 2008. Retrieved 22 September 2008.
5. ^'Illegal Gambling statistics for the financial year ending 31 March 2006'. National Gambling Board. Archived from the original on 6 August 2007. Retrieved 22 September 2008.
6. ^'How much is the South African gambling market worth?'. www.bettinggods.com. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
7. ^'Speech by Thibedi Majake (CEO of the National Gambling Board) at the 2006 national convention of Racing South Africa'. Racing South Africa. Retrieved 22 September 2008.^{[dead link]}
8. ^'Sport: Horse racing in South Africa'. SouthAfrica.info. Archived from the original on 16 September 2008. Retrieved 22 September 2008.
9. ^WCGRB Licensed Betting Sites
10. ^Legal South Africa Betting Sites
11. ^'Online Gambling Remains Unlawful in South Africa'. Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
12. ^Online Gambling Banned in Africa
13. ^Online Gambling in SA: Is It Legal?

Silver Sands Casino South Africa

External links[edit]

Europa Casino South Africa

Rio Casino Resort (formerly known as Tusk Rio Casino Resort) is a casino and resort in Klerksdorp, South Africa. At 266,330 square feet (24,743 m²), it is one of the largest casinos in the Southern Hemisphere.^[5][6]

History[edit]

Rio Casino Resort was opened in May 2002^[2] as 'Tusk Rio Casino Resort'. In August 2006, Peermont Global acquired Tusk Resorts,^[7] renaming the property as 'Rio Casino Resort'. The acquisition of the property was made to realize a substantial increase in casino gaming and improve lodging on land where the company held gaming licenses.^[8] Shortly thereafter, a new Peermont Metcourt Rio Hotel was built adjacent to the resort along with a new convention center, Peermont's first in the area, with only one other lodging facility offering such conference facilities.^[9] It is the largest casino on the African continent at just over 266,000 sq. feet. ^[10]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^'Tusk Rio Casino Resort'. Worldcasinodirectory.com. Retrieved 2013-11-30.
2. ^ ^ab'The 2007 Survey of CASINO ENTERTAINMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA'(PDF). The Casino Association of South Africa. Retrieved 2013-12-08.
3. ^'20 Casinos Where Losing Won't Make You Sad! - Page 8'. Siliconindia.com. Retrieved 2013-11-30.
4. ^'The 2008 Survey of CASINO ENTERTAINMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA'(PDF). The Casino Association of South Africa. Retrieved 2013-12-08.[1]
5. ^'The 20 Biggest Casinos: 5. Tusk Rio Casino Resort - BusinessWeek'. Images.businessweek.com. Retrieved 2013-11-30.
6. ^'Najbardziej luksusowe kasyna na świecie'. Life.forbes.pl. 2011-07-21. Retrieved 2013-11-30.
7. ^'News in depth - Peermont Global adds Tusk Casinos & Hotels to its group of resorts'. Zoutpansberger. 2006-08-25. Retrieved 2013-12-09.
8. ^'Rio | Peermont bets on new name in lights for Rio Casino Resort! - Press Room | Press Releases for the Rio Hotel, Casino & Convention Resort in Klerksdorp, North West Province'. Riocasino.co.za. Retrieved 2013-12-09.
9. ^Odendaal, Natasha (2009-01-27). 'Peermont steps up hotel expansion in SA'. Engineeringnews.co.za. Retrieved 2013-12-09.
10. ^'Top 5 biggest casinos in the world'. bgo. 2014-07-28. Retrieved 2016-08-30.

Sun City Casino South Africa

External links[edit]

Coordinates: 26°01′26″S28°00′46″E / 26.0239°S 28.0128°E