Western Cape calls the bluff on new gambling bill
A fresh political fault line has opened between the national government and the Western Cape over sweeping changes to SA’s gambling laws, after the province pushed back against some parts of the National Gambling Amendment Bill.
The provincial legislature’s finance portfolio committee heard presentations from the trade, industry and competition department (DTIC) and the Western Cape Gambling and Racing Board (WCGRB) on Tuesday.
The bill includes a handful of changes that stand out.
Right at the top is a plan to ban all dog-racing bets, scrapping the practice entirely in SA.
The bill also gives the government the power to grab “unlawful winnings” immediately, meaning payouts from illegal or unlicensed gambling can be seized on the spot without a lengthy legal fight.
It also pushes for far tighter control over gambling machines and electronic bingo, tougher limits on advertising, and a major power shift that moves oversight of lottery-related bets from provinces to national government.
The DTIC said SA’s gambling sector has expanded far beyond what the 2004 Act anticipated, and that national tools need to be updated to keep pace.
The 2008 National Gambling Amendment Act, though passed by both the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces, was never implemented and is now outdated.
This means the 2004 Act still stands.
The new proposed bill was first adopted by the National Assembly in December 2018 but was rejected by the NCOP.
It was then referred to the mediation committee, which was not constituted for seven years.
The committee was finally established in June this year, but when it became clear that its report would not receive majority party support, it was not tabled.
The DTIC said the bill aims to tighten punter protection, improve enforcement and resolve long-running deadlocks in the National Gambling Policy Council.
It also set out why the national system should play a stronger coordinating role.
“The intention is to consolidate information throughout the country from all legal modes of gambling,” the DTIC said in its report.
But the WCGRB, which delivered a detailed submission, pushed back on several of the proposed amendments.
The board warned that key changes would override provincial powers, disrupt systems already functioning well in the Western Cape and impose unnecessary costs on operators.
One of the strongest objections centred on government’s plan to extend the National Central Electronic Monitoring System (NCEMS) beyond limited pay-out machines to include casinos, bingo and betting.
The WCGRB told the committee that the province already operates its own approved and certified monitoring systems, designed specifically for the Western Cape’s gambling environment.
“A national central monitoring system for all types of gambling is simply not viable nor desirable,” it said.
“It will lead to an unjustifiable levy/costs imposed on operators, for the benefit of the NGR and the operator of the NCEMS.”
The board also cautioned that extending NCEMS would “usurp” provincial powers granted under Western Cape law and replace systems that are already tested, audited and well understood by both regulators and operators.
Another major concern was a clause allowing national inspectors to investigate illegal gambling “with or without” provincial inspectors.
The WCGRB said this wording creates a direct conflict with existing provincial responsibilities and risks duplication, confusion and weaker enforcement.
“This section is usurping / encroaching on the powers of provincial regulators, which leads to conflict between national and provincial legislation on the subject-matter,” it said.
The board recommended that the phrase “or without” be removed entirely so that enforcement remains aligned with the structure of the current Act.
The forfeiture of unlawful winnings also generated disagreement.
The DTIC explained the bill would allow the National Gambling Regulator to declare unlawful winnings forfeited without going to the high court, arguing that the existing process is time-consuming and costly.
But the WCGRB told the committee that unlawful winnings have always been forfeited to the province under Western Cape legislation, and that this principle should remain unchanged.
“We recommend that unlawful winnings should be forfeited to the respective Provinces and not to the NGR,” the board said. A further clash emerged over how to fix the long-standing quorum failures of the National Gambling Policy Council.
The DTIC wants motions to be passed at a second meeting if the first lacks quorum.
The WCGRB, however, argued that this contradicts the consensus-driven spirit of the Act and risks decisions being pushed through without full provincial participation.
“There is no legal rationale in support of such approach,” the board said.
It recommended a written round-robin voting system instead, similar to models used elsewhere in law.
The board also revisited an earlier attempt, now removed from the bill, to replace the National Gambling Board with a single-headed National Gambling Regulator.
It reminded the committee that the province had strongly opposed concentrating such extensive powers in one office.
“For purposes of good governance, it is important to have a board that consist of persons with different skills, disciplines and experience,” the WCGRB said.
Throughout the briefing, the WCGRB stressed that it was not against reform.
It said national legislation must respect constitutional boundaries and the capabilities of provinces.
The board noted that it has consistently made submissions going back to 2016, yet many of its concerns remain unresolved.
The DTIC, meanwhile, told the committee that the bill is the product of years of consultation and is intended to strengthen — not weaken — the broader regulatory framework.
“This is a great step towards government’s effort to implement the 4th Industrial Revolution and enhanced regulatory oversight,” the department said.
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