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August 3 - The Executive Director of the National Responsible Gambling Program in South Africa (NRGP), Professor Peter Collins, made a statement about the online gambling situation in the country, noting that activity has grown significantly in the past few months.
According to Prof. Collins, who heads research on the subject in South Africa and the United Kingdom, advancements in technology and growing interest in online gambling among the younger generation have pushed up the popularity of offshore casinos and poker sites.
"In South Africa, it is currently estimated that about a quarter of a million people regularly gamble online," said Collins in a statement. He admitted, though, that it was difficult to determine exact numbers.
While there are a number of laws that govern online gambling in South Africa, essentially making it an offence, they are not enforced. There have been major efforts to make the activity legal in the past few years, although lawmakers have long despaired that the legislation is taking too long to get finalized and that an unregulated market is bad for South Africans seeking quality and safe gambling on the internet.
Collins said that "if you ban something like this completely, it will just drive it underground into the arms of organized crime."
It is believed that at present, six million South Africans gamble in general on a regular basis, bringing in around R20 million in revenue.
Collins said that online gambling could threaten land based casinos. "If regulated properly, casinos could get a slice of the pie and add to their revenue and services," he predicted.
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