South Africa bans online poker

Poker News / Matthew Pitt / 26 August 2010 / 3 Comments

Raymond Rahme most definitely does not support the ban

First we had the United States of America trying to ban online gambling with the passing of the UIGEA, then we had a number of European countries such as France and Italy making it difficult for gambling sites to operate within their borders and now we have South Africa completely banning all online gambling with immediate effect.

Gambling in South Africa has never been given the freedom that other countries have enjoyed and it was heavily restricted even as far back as 1673. The in 1965 all gambling, expect betting on horse racing, was banned and made illegal. In the 1970s casinos started opening up in special zones in South Africa, known as Homelands, similar to the Indian reservations in the USA, but not everyone was entitled to visit these casino, only South African natives.

Then in 1994, when Nelson Mandella's party came into power and he was elected President of South Africa, the Homelands were incorporated into the rest of the country and instead of demolishing the casinos there, they were instead legalised so that South African citizens could legally gamble on those premises'.

The South African government was awaiting a key final report into internet gaming from the Trade and Industry Ministry but the Johannesburg High Court stepped in an banned all online gambling with immediate effect. Under the new laws it with be the South African Internet Service Providers (ISPs) that will be responsible for stopping people accessing gambling sites and financial institutions will also share some responsibility too as they will be prohibited from processing transactions to and from online gambling sites. The media has also been banned from advertising any form of online gambling.

The head of Gauteng Gambling Board legal services, Lucky Lukhwareni, said "we approached the media to alert them of the judgement which makes online casino operations illegal, and if they continue we will have them arrested and fight for conviction." The hardline stance continues as it was announced that anyone found breaking the new laws can be fined up to ZAR 10 million rand, which is approximately £880,000 as well as facing up to 10 year imprisonment.

The online gambling industry in South Africa is estimated to be worth between ZAR 400 million Rand and ZAR one billion Rand, between £35 million and £88 million, and the government was looking to licence, regulate and tax the industry as set out in the July 2008 bill, the National Gambling Amendment Bill, but it looks as if those plans have now been scrapped.

Although South Africa is more known for its cricket and rugby teams they do also produce some very good poker players, the best of which being Raymond Rahme, a 62-year old pro who was the first African player to reach the final table of the WSOP Main Event back in 2007. Rahme, a PokerStars sponsored pro, currently has live tournament winnings of $3,430,465 with his last cash ironically being in an All African Poker Tournament held in Swaziland in march this year.

Comments (3)

1. Anonymous | 31 August 2010

   Well done Lucky Lukhwareni (viva) (idiot) You have just put thousands of people out of jobs, at a time when the economy is struggling, you have also taken away advertising income, pat yourself on the back, you have added many more unemployed people to your country.

2. anonomousey | 31 August 2010

   The brick and mortar institutions are behind this. They are losing too much money, so they want to make online illegal. What's good for the goose is good for the gander. MAKE ALL GAMBLING ILLEGAL whether it be online or otherwise, if you HAVE to stop online customers. It is far safer for a gambler to play from home as he does not have to drive ..... if he has had some alcohol during his gambling evening. This is what the institutions are fighting about.....the bars at the casinos..etc..etc..make THEM pay now and close the LOT down. Let's see the reaction after that ruling.

3. Derrick van as | 03 September 2010

   I am 51 and have been playing online poker for many years - have made many international friends and was able to do what I loved doing anytime of the day. I did not even know this was comming as it was not readily broadcast on news etc.We should all come out against this attack of our freedom of choice -