South Africa Continues to Debate Making Online Gambling Legal

The question of whether or not online gambling should be legalized in South Africa continues to be discussed regularly by the South African Parliament’s trade and Industry committee.  The advantages and disadvantages of regulating and legalizing internet gambling in the country remains the focus of each meeting.

However, on March 2, during the last public meeting, the primary issues that were discussed included the potential problems that could occur if online gambling was legalized; problems such as illegal gambling operations, underage gambling, and money laundering.

Nevertheless, despite these possible risks, it is the recommendation of a gambling review commission that online gambling be regulated and taxed.  Furthermore, it was pointed out by the committee chairman and Democratic Alliance MP that gambling on the internet previous existed in South Africa and ignoring this fact will only allow the unregulated market to boom.

The current online gambling ban in South Africa is for poker and casino sites, as well as betting websites that are located outside of the country.