CASA Urges Government to Rethink Online Gambling Bill

May 24 - The National Assembly Trade and Industry Committee, which is currently holding public hearings on the National Gambling Amendment Bill draft that will legalize online gambling in the country, recently heard warnings by the Casino Association of South Africa that the bill had not been researched enough.

The chairperson of CASA, Jabu Mabuza, said that while the association supported the regulation of internet gambling, it was still of the opinion that there were many fields that had not been adequately researched and required redrafting.

"To ensure consistency and fairness, for example," said Mabuza, "interactive operators ought to pay a rate of tax no less than those paid by other sectors of the gambling industry. 

CASA said that, essentially, the benefits of legalizing online gambling should far outweigh the disadvantages, and it was afraid that this aspect had not been properly determined.

The Association was adamant that the new bill should make provisions for the fact that the online gambling industry needed to be on a level playing  field with the land based sector. This included meeting all the same requirements demanded from the land based gambling industry such as financial credibility, empowerment, regulation, taxation, job creation and responsible gambling.

All in all, according to the Casino Association of South Africa, the bill needed to return to the drawing board and more research needed to be undertaken. While it stood to reason that online gambling legislation needed to be comprehensive as possible, CASA said that "the current proposals do not accomplish that goal."

The Trade and Industry Committee will continue to hold public hearings about the draft before it is handed to the President for signing.

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