Another Country Regulating Online Gambling

South Africa can be added to the online gambling regulation debate. Proposing a bill that may cause taxation on the poker events and online casinos from the individual level. This bill is raising many concerns from standing Members of Parliament.

Legislation introduced to the South African Parliament intended for regulating online gambling following a far-reaching international study of the phenomenon has run into resistance from some members of Parliament.

In Cape Town Wednesday several Members of Parliament (MPs) objections were loudly heard as Fungai Sibanda, the acting Director General of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), introduced the National Gambling Amendment Act to the trade and industry portfolio committee.

The members, led by ANC member Ben Turok, made the complaint that the only reason to legislate internet gambling - the Bill refers to it as interactive gambling - should be to abolish it, or curb it, reports Fin24. "This is a moral issue," Turok said, as he told the DTI delegation that one argument Sibanda put into view in an argument in favor of the Bill - to allow the politicians to benefit - was wrong: "In my view your approach is the wrong one," he said. "It is a social evil, that we may have to regulate to curb, but we must not make money out of it." Turok compared taxing online gambling to making money from prostitution.

The legislation is not adequately disparaging of gambling, according to Parliament Member Turok. "When you have a relative evil in society either we legislate to prohibit it or to curb it. You don't legislate to encourage it."

Turok's view was resonate by other governing party members including Solomon Rasmeni, from the North West province, who told members that he would only support the new Bill if it is to be a step "...towards doing away with this unacceptable activity".
He wanted to see gambling, whether on the internet or in the casino, done away with entirely. "It eats the moral fiber of society..."

Western Cape member, Danny Oliphant, sounded a note of caution, saying: "I'm not sure we will be able to tackle the moral issues." Nevertheless, he opposed the notion of requiring all players to register before they are able to play, saying that this will create a permanent participant, and not just a casual gambler. Additional MPs complained that whites own all the gambling sites, and that blacks are impoverished by it.