Online Gambling Regulation South Africa

Consumer discontent with gambling advertising has reached breaking point in a range of jurisdictions around the world, with a wave of restrictions currently sweeping across Europe.

All eyes are on Africa as offshore operators and the continent's incumbent industry grapple with a brave new world of gambling regulation and high-stakes online competition.

Online casinos and play at online casinos is illegal in South Africa according to Section 11 of the National Gambling Act, which states that “a person must not engage in or make available an interactive game except as authorised in terms of this Act or any other national law.”. CONSIDERING that the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (Act 108 of 1996), establishes that casinos, racing, gambling and wagering are matters of concurrent national and provincial legislative competence.

The COVID-19 pandemic is exerting a life-altering effect on every corner of the globe and the various sectors of the gambling industry are no exception.

Gambling venues are shuttering and numerous countries are now on lockdown as the world comes together to battle the spread of the highly infectious disease.

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Meanwhile, almost all major sports leagues have halted in a massive hit to bookmakers, with share prices in listed gambling companies nosediving ahead of crashing markets.

See below for all of VIXIO GamblingCompliance’s evolving coverage of the coronavirus pandemic and its effects on gambling markets and regulation.

After more than a decade of false dawns, the Netherlands finally ratified its Online Gambling Act in February 2019, in the process confirming that one of Europe’s last remaining major grey markets is definitively heading for full online regulation.

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Germany’s lucrative online gambling market continues to walk a regulatory knife-edge as delays, extensions and deadlines flowing from the country’s interstate treaty look set to define the destiny of all sectors in the years to come.

Populous Pennsylvania is poised to become the fourth U.S. state with legalized internet gaming after the state's legislature approved a bill in 2017 authorizing established casinos to apply for licenses for online slots, table and poker games, plus online sports betting.

Sweden’s licensed online market opened for the first time on January 1, 2019. Interest remains intense, not least because of a stream of regulatory enforcement activity for wayward operators and speculation over who will survive in this highly competitive space.

Africa

We now live firmly in an enforcement era for UK gambling, with fines from the Gambling Commission handed out almost monthly for a diverse range of misdemeanours.

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A new law passed in December 2018 means both retail and online sports betting is set to be regulated in Brazil over the next few years, establishing a major new market depending on the specific terms of the regulatory regime to be drawn up by the country's Ministry of Finance.

The U.S. sports betting industry, currently confined to Nevada and available in more limited form in two other states, is poised to undergo a major expansion after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on May 14, 2018 that a 1992 federal act banning legalization in other states unconstitutionally infringed upon states' rights.

Following passage of an eagerly anticipated bill to legalise integrated resorts, Japan is now primed to step forward as one of the most significant expansion opportunities in the history of the international casino industry.

The booming popularity of professional video game tournaments has had an inevitable consequence — growing interest in betting on the outcome of esports events.

Anti-money laundering (AML) is rapidly becoming one of the most pressing regulatory areas for gambling firms across all major jurisdictions.

Operating with only a fragile majority Greece's Syriza government is nevertheless pushing forward in 2019 with long-awaited plans to restructure and overhaul the country’s land-based and online gambling legislation.

The United Kingdom’s historic vote to leave the European Union has sent shockwaves throughout British and European politics, with warnings of a significant impact on an array of industries, including gambling.

Gambling

A whirlwind of legal and legislative activity in late 2015 and early 2016 has quickly transformed America’s disruptive daily fantasy sports sector and put it on the path to regulation.

Following his stunning election victory, Donald Trump has become the first former casino owner to assume the office of President of the United States.

Online Gambling Regulation South Africa

New rules adopted in Nevada in 2015 heralded a revolution in the regulation of slot machines by allowing skill-based games and variable payout percentages for the first time.

Seven years after an original Department of Justice legal opinion cleared the way for states to regulate online casino, poker and lottery games, the legal landscape for U.S. online gaming was shifted by a sudden move by the Trump administration to reverse that opinion.