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DTI to decide on Internet gambling advertising rules

By Sabinet Online
Johannesburg, 05 Feb 2008

Sabinet's Parliamentary Information Service reports that in a meeting of the NCOP Economic and Foreign Affairs Committee on 30 January, negotiating mandates from the various provinces on the National Gambling Amendment Bill were considered.

The Bill was agreed to by the trade and industry committee of the National Assembly last year, but is now before the NCOP in view of provincial interests. Input has been received from six of the nine provinces so far.

The Bill seeks to allow for the "effective regulation of interactive" gambling in its generally accepted form of remote gambling, which can take place on the Internet or "other related forms of telecommunication".

It is proposed that only licensed interactive gambling providers may advertise, the minister having powers to control the manner and form of advertising.

A major debate has now ensued as to the nature of the advertising to be allowed, if such is to be allowed at all, according to the recommendation of some provincial mandates, or whether just to allow providers to advertise, which, says the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), might be considered discriminatory.

The DTI has now agreed to return to a further meeting of the same committee with "a formulation that is recommended on the subject by both DTI and the state law advisers on the subject".

According to a programme just issued by the Economic and Foreign Affairs Select Committee, the next NCOP meeting on the subject of the Gambling Amendment Bill will be on 13 February 2008.

(The Bill can be found in Sabinet's subscription service Bill Tracker.)

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