Internet gambling in South Africa has been illegal for sometime now, but that is to change. It seems that internet gambling will become legal if Trade & Industry Minister Mandisi Mpahlwa accepts the recommendations that were given by the National Gambling Board. Last month, the board recommended that Internet gambling be legalized once and for all.
It doesn’t seem to be a big victory in the country since 1 in 10 households has a fixed telephone line for internet. This may change, because of the low number fact. If they are worrying about addiction it is hard when there are few that cane access it anyway. If that was the case keeping it illegal was something that wasn’t practical. Making the option open seemed to be a better option for the society.
If Mpahlwa chooses to legalize Internet gambling, companies could also profit from this. The industry was worth US$3bn/year in 2001, and had grown to more than $8,2bn/year in 2004; this was all according to research firm Christiansen Capital Advisors. The market prediction is expects the market to triple to almost $25bn/year by 2010. National gambling Board CEO Thibedi Majake claimed there was no reason to keep Internet gambling illegal. |
