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Party Cautions about Problem Gambling

The National Gambling Amendment Bill is still highly controversial in South Africa, but increasingly the Bill is gaining political support, and most recently a political party vocally supported regulating the online casino gambling industry. The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) supports regulating the industry as a way to control a pastime that has already infiltrated the country and has the potential to cause severe gambling and online casinos related addictions, to negatively affect children in S.A., and to have rampant criminal corruption. A representative for the IFP spoke out in favor of the Gambling Bill, but also called for increased attention and efforts to educate and help problem gamblers.

Many in the South African government protest the regulation of online casinos on sheer principle, contending that the government should not regulate the industry as a way to fund government programs and increase revenue – one person went so far as to compare internet gambling with prostitution and implored the government to end the pastime. But Professor E.S. Chang, a spokesperson for the IFP summarized the online casino situation best, he noted, “Whether we do or do not approve, or agree with it, the reality of the situation is that interactive gambling is taking place in South Africa, and is currently not regulated. What is particularly alarming about the current non - regulation of interactive gambling is the ease with which underage children have access to this activity and the scope for the development and expansion of criminal activities."

Chang went on to stress that by regulating the online casinos, the government then has the power to educate South Africans about the negative effects of internet gambling. Common within all countries is the notion among citizens that online casino sites are the solution to money problems rather than a decent into debt. "They think that if they can just win one big jackpot, all their financial woes will be over,” says Chang. And the real problem with that is the fact that gambling addiction heavily affects “people who can least afford to gamble, the poorest members of …society,” continues Chang.