SA Horse Racing Requests Special Status

November 16 - The South African horse racing industry is hoping to achieve a special status to set it apart from the rest of the gambling industry, as it, along with casinos, slots operators and greyhound racers, appeal to Parliament for new laws to regulate the gambling industry in South Africa.

According to Rian du Plessis, chief executive of Phumelela tote operator, "It needs to be taken into consideration that the sport of horse racing employs twenty four times more people per million of gross gambling revenue than casinos, so there is room to say we need to look at this differently from a mathematical gambling machine."

Mr du Plessis said that the horse racing industry in South Africa did not want to be considered just another segment of the [gambling] industry. "We'd like to be recognised by all parties as a sport, which means we approach it completely differently."

Tote Looks for Changes in SA Horse Racing Regulations

The tote would also like to see a change in the way the SA gambling industry is regulated, with a move from provincial totes to national regulation. The claim is that the provincial totes are not financially viable as separate entities.

Mr du Plessis said he embraced the consideration to review horse racing separately. Twenty years ago, horse racing was considered to be the only legal form of gambling in South Africa. Today, the National Lottery, casinos and slots machines are also legal and this has reduced horse racing's share of the national gambling market down to 10%.

"It's not that the market has kept growing – we've lost market share and we need to compete and be able to compete fairly," commented du Plessis.

A point of contention exists between the bookmakers and the tote with bookmakers taking 42% of all bets, but only contributing 12% of the cost.

"It's not equitable for the tote that takes 58% of the bets to contribute 88% of the funding of the sport," said du Plessis.

In addition, du Plessis is unimpressed with a proposal by the Minister of Finance for a 15% gambling tax on all winnings above R25,000.

"It's inappropriate for the government to be spending considerable amounts of taxpayers' money on this whole review commission – and the minister announces a separate tax in the middle of this process," he added.

Mr du Plessis did note that he felt that there was a greater understanding of the South African horse racing industry through presentations made to parliament by race-horse owners and breeders and that he believed Parliament would look into horse racing as a separate entity.

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