South Africa makes progress in gambling legislation

Gambling legislation has been a hotly debated topic in South Africa, especially the newly proposed National Gambling Amendment Bill. The latest news is that the legislators are closer to reach an agreement over the proposals of the bill. Garron Whitesman, a Cape Town-based gaming lawyer sounds optimistic.

“Whilst it is still very early days in the process, it appears that a positive watershed moment may have been reached in policy as the position overtly adopted by the members of the Portfolio Committee was materially different to that adopted a number of years ago when the issue was previously considered,” Whitesman told news to industry media outlet and added: “A much more realistic and sensible view seems to be being adopted by the parliamentarians ultimately responsible for the setting of gambling policy in South Africa.”

It would be useful to remind the readers that the legislators from both the ruling African National Congress (ANC) and the opposition Democratic Alliance members were critical of the content of the bill.