Gauteng High Court Hands Down No Online Gambling Ruling

August 27 - A shock ruling by a Gauteng High Court has left the South African online gambling industry in confusion regarding the future of their operations.

The court made a ruling that essentially bans online gambling in the country.

The Gauteng Gambling Board seems to be going after sites that are situated outside the country's borders but still manage to offer their products to South African punters.

Local operators are still unsure of how this ruling affects them.

"As I understand it, this won't affect bookmakers with local licenses taking online sports bets," said Brent Graham who runs an online sports betting portal.

A statement from the Gambling Board said: "South African gamblers shall be held liable for their gambling activities in cyberspace even if the web server is located offshore."

"Banking institutions' credit and debit cards should not be used for the payment of any gambling transactions that are illegal, and the banks reserve the right to decline processing or paying any card transactions that are suspected to be illegal gambling transactions (to the exclusion of sports betting/online bookmaking)," said the Board.

The ruling applies to operators as well as advertisers who "facilitate the offering of internet gambling activities in South Africa."

These advertisers, according to the Board, could be prosecuted and fined for up to R10 million or 10 years in jail for "aiding and abetting unlawful, illegal gambling activities".

Online gambling operators, however, are standing firm in their position that they are not doing anything illegal, and vow to appeal the ruling.

"Until the appeal has been heard and the outcome determined, our business will continue as usual as agreed with the gambling boards," said a message by Piggs Peak casino.

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