Gambling in South Africa

Following a near outright ban for most of its history, several forms of gambling were legalised in South Africa in 1996. A change in legislation saw the establishment of legal casinos, a national lottery and other forms of gaming.

History of gambling in South Africa

Most forms of gambling was banned or restricted from as early as 1673, with the Gambling Act of 1965 officially banning all forms except betting on horse racing. In the late 1970s casinos started operating in the bantustans of Bophuthatswana, Ciskei, Transkei and Venda. By 1995 an estimated 2 000 illegal casinos were believed to be operating within the country. In 1996 the National Gambling Act instituted a system of licensed casinos and a single national lottery. [cite book
title=The Social Impact of Gambling in South Africa
author=Stephen P. Rule, Terezinha Da Silva, Chris Sibanyoni
publisher=HSRC Press
page=8
isbn=0-7969-1971-2
year=2000
url=http://books.google.co.za/books?id=5yTlT6F5XAUC]

Some scholars have argued that illegal gambling was at least tacitly supported by mining companies in order to keep black African workers locked in poverty and available as a cheap source of labour. [cite web
url=http://www.iir.berkeley.edu/culture/conference/sallaz.pdf
title=Gambling with Development: Casino Capitalism in South Africa and on Indian Lands in California
author=Jeffrey J Sallaz
publisher=University of California Berkeley
accessdate=22 September
accessyear=2008]

Prevalence and value

According to a 2006 study the most popular forms of gambling in South Africa were the National Lottery (86.9% participation), slots (27.7% participation), scratchcards (22.7% participation), charity jackpot competitions (11.6% participation) and horse racing betting (11.5% participation). 8.3% of respondents said they never gambled and a further 5.5% characterised themselves as occasional game players with no regular forms of gambling. [cite web
url=http://www.responsiblegambling.co.za/media/user/documents/NRGP%20Prevalence%20Study%202006.pdf
title=Problem Gambling Prevalence Study 2006
publisher=National Responsible Gambling Programme
accessdate=22 September
accessyear=2008]

In the 2006/2007 financial year licensed gross gambling revenue as monitored by the National Gambling Board totaled R13.52 billion, from R11.4 billion the previous year. 86.2 percent of that revenue was derived in casinos. [cite web
url=http://www.ngb.org.za/home.asp?pid=138
title=National gambling statistics for the financial year ending 31 March 2007
publisher=National Gambling Board
accessdate=22 September
accessyear=2008] In the same period the Board reported a total of 455 raids on and closures of presumed illegal gambling operations. [cite web
url=http://www.ngb.org.za/home.asp?pid=139
title=Illegal Gambling statistics for the financial year ending 31 March 2006
publisher=National Gambling Board
accessdate=22 September
accessyear=2008]

Types of gambling

outh African National Lottery

The South African National Lottery was established in 2000 and has been in continuous operation since, apart from a suspension between April 2007 and October 2007. In its last year of operation transaction values totaled R3.972 billion, with an average of five million transactions per week, making it the most popular form of gambling in South Africa.

Casinos

Casinos operate in all metropolitan areas in South Africa. The following list is an up-to-date list of South African based casinos compiled by [http://www.casinosa.co.za Casino SA] :

Gauteng
* [http://www.suninternational.com/DESTINATIONS/CASINOS/CARNIVALCITY/Pages/default.aspx Carnival City Casino]
* [http://www.emeraldsafari.co.za/ Emerald Casino]
* [http://www.emperorspalace.com/ Emperors Palace Casino]
* [http://www.goldreefcity.co.za/ Gold Reef City Casino]
* [http://www.montecasino.co.za/ Monte Casino]
* [http://www.suninternational.com/Destinations/Casinos/Morula/Pages/default.aspx Morula Sun Casino]
* [http://www.silverstarcasino.co.za Silver Star Casino]

Western Cape
* [http://www.cnty.com/casinos/caledon/ Caledon Casino]
* [http://www.gardenroutecasino.co.za Garden Route Casino]
* [http://www.suninternational.com/Destinations/Casinos/Grandwest/Pages/newDefault.aspx Grand West Casino]
* [http://www.casinomykonos.com Mykonos Casino]

Free State
* [http://www.frontierinn.co.za Frontier Casino]
* [http://www.goldfieldscasino.co.za Goldfields Casino]
* [http://www.suninternational.com/DESTINATIONS/CASINOS/NALEDI/Pages/default.aspx Naledi Casino]
* [http://www.suninternational.com/Destinations/Casinos/Windmill/Pages/default.aspx Windmill Casino]

Northern Cape
* [http://www.desertpalace.co.za Desert Palace Casino]
* [http://www.suninternational.com/DESTINATIONS/CASINOS/FLAMINGO/Pages/default.aspx Flamingo Casino]

Eastern Cape
* [http://www.suninternational.com/DESTINATIONS/CASINOS/BOARDWALK/Pages/default.aspx Boardwalk Casino]
* [http://www.hemingways.co.za Hemingways Casino]
* [http://www.suninternational.com/destinations/vacationclub/pages/wildcoastsun.aspx Wild Coast Sun Casino]

Kwa-Zulu Natal
* [http://www.cnty.com Century Casino]
* [http://www.goldenhorsecasino.co.za Golden Horse Casino]
* [http://www.casinosa.co.za/forumdisplay.php?f=41 Monte Vista Casino]
* [http://www.suninternational.com/DESTINATIONS/CASINOS/SIBAYA/Pages/default.aspx Sibaya Casino]
* [http://www.suncoastcasino.co.za Sun Coast Casino]
* [http://www.peermont.com Tusk Umfolozi Casino]

Limpopo
* [http://www.suninternational.com/DESTINATIONS/CASINOS/MEROPA/Pages/default.aspx Meropa Casino]
* [http://www.peermont.com Tusk Venda Casino]

Mpumalanga
* [http://www.emnotwenicasino.co.za Emnotweni Casino]
* [http://www.graceland.co.za Graceland Casino]
* [http://theridge.tsogosun.co.za/live/index.php The Ridge Casino]

North West
* [http://www.suninternational.com/destinations/casinos/carousel/pages/default.aspx Carousel Casino]
* [http://www.peermont.com Mmabatho Casino]
* [http://www.suninternational.com Sun City Casino]
* [http://www.peermont.com Tusk Rio Casino]

Horse racing

On-track betting on horse races lost its monopoly on legal South African betting in 1996 and, due to its complexity and the difficulty of developing new players, did not effectively compete with the National Lottery or casino games. [cite web
url=http://www.racingsouthafrica.com/Documents/Convention_Speeches/Keynote_Address.doc
title=Speech by Thibedi Majake (CEO of the National Gambling Board) at the 2006 national convention of Racing South Africa
publisher=Racing South Africa
accessdate=22 September
accessyear=2008]

Betting on horse races is controlled by Saftote and operated by Gold Circle in KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape and by Phumelela in the remainder of the country. [cite web
url=http://www.southafrica.info/about/sport/horseracing.htm
title=Sport: Horse racing in South Africa
publisher=SouthAfrica.info
accessdate=22 September
accessyear=2008]

References

External links

* [http://www.casinosa.co.za South African Casino & Gambling Community Forum]
* [http://www.ngb.org.za National Gambling Board]
* [http://www.responsiblegambling.co.za National Responsible Gambling Programme]