South African Ban on Bank Cards at Foreign Online Casinos on Hold

The acting chief executive of South African gambling regulator, Ndanduleni Makhari (person’s name, not regulator agency’s name) has decided that the best way to regulate online gambling within the country is by completely banning it.

According to online gambling news in South Africa, Ndanduleni Makhari states that online gambling has a negative socio-economic effect on families, and thus should be illegal.

South Africa is listed among the most dangerous countries in the world. Even Yemeni bandits and Somali pirates begrudgingly respect the sheer volume of random violence, armed robberies, rapes, home invasions and murders that are generated by South African natives. Yet little can be done without imprisoning as much as 15% of the population who readily admit enjoying taking part in gang rapes, robberies and random shootings.

However what could be done by the impotent government is harass online gamblers who won’t shoot back unlike the thugs responsible for the high crime rate. If only the draconian South African gambling laws could be exchanged with the liberal and lenient criminal laws, the country would quickly be on the way to recovery.

In the latest assault on online gambling, Ndanduleni Makhari was getting ready to order South African Reserve Bank to forbid residents from using their credit cards at foreign based online casinos in South Africa.

At just the last moment a Swaziland based online casino filed an appeal with the Bloemfontein based South African Court of Appeals. The online casino is located outside South Africa but primarily services South African online gamers. It believes that South African gambling laws banning online gambling do not apply to it since it is located outside of the country.

Last summer the Pretoria High Court threw out the same lawsuit which is the basis for the appeal. The Appeals Court plans to hold a hearing on August 23, and until that time, Ndanduleni Makhari’s pipe dreams of a safer South Africa without the scourge of online gambling has been put on hold. Ndanduleni’s next target is advertising agencies who are promoting online gambling.