About to Regulate Gambling

Two months have passed since the South African government published its proposed regulations to regulate online gambling.

Currently in South Africa there is somewhat of a regulatory void, with no clear law regulating online gambling in the country. This has brought South Africans to initiate one such law, the proposed regulations of which were published in February. Public comments followed.

Under the proposed regulations, any operator that works illegally will not be allowed to apply for a license once these are handed out. No license means no lawful right to operate and advertise.

Provided that public comments do not change the regulations entirely, the law should pass in a few months time. Then South African players will have to open a designated account with a South African bank, which will be used for online gaming only.

Oftentimes it is the payment methods that are the way to regulate and control online gambling. And so this option will be employed in South Africa. Only credit cards can be used to make payments with limits of funds in the accounts.
Ten online licenses are likely to be handed as a first step once regulations pass, to South African operators.

Currently, the South African market of online casinos, poker and sports betting is growing steady and is estimated at between R400m and R1bn.