Over 100 organisations demand ban on online gambling

IN A HISTORIC show of unity, 107 organisations from South Africa's labour, civic, faith-based and welfare sectors have signed the Civil Society Declaration on the Harm of Online Gambling, calling for a national ban on all forms of online betting.

- SIPHESIHLE BUTHELEZI

The newly formed Civil Society Coalition Against Online Gambling has launched a 90-day National Action Plan that will include marches, petitions and public education drives.

The coalition was formed at a gathering at Radisson Blu, Umhlanga on Saturday.

Dhilosen Pillay, former chairperson of the Free State Gambling, Liquor and Tourism Board, said the problem stemmed from weak regulation.

“For the term online gambling, you do not have a licence for online gambling. There's a bookmaker’s licence, which is a fixed-odds licence. The National Gambling Board, formed in 2004, was disbanded in 2014. So we have the administrator, and it’s impossible for the administrator to take into consideration all factors pertaining to gambling.”

He said that licensing fell under provincial legislatures. “The national board only issues licences to casinos. The rest, bookmaker, totalisator, limited-payout, and bingo licences are issued by provincial gambling boards,” he said.