South African takes Legal Action against National Gambling Board
A man from Johannesburg is taking legal action against the National Gambling Board to try and get back money he spent on online gambling.
A man from Johannesburg is taking action against the National Gambling Board to try and recover money he spent gambling online.
Online gambling is illegal in South Africa, but the man who won R60,000 on a UK betting site is trying to claim back the R20,000 he had spent.
The chief executive officer of the National Gambling Board, Baby Tyawa, said “any form of unlicensed online gambling in South Africa is prohibited and is a criminal offence. Those found to be contravening the act face imprisonment or a heft fine.”
Tyawa said that he board has received a letter from the gambler’s lawyers demanding that he receive his money. According to Tyawa the man’s winnings have been placed in a trust account. The account is controlled by the National Treasury and has around R3.5 million which has been forfeited by other illegal online gamblers.
Tyawa did say that many South Africans were unaware that online gambling was illegal, however, he reiterated that gamblers could be fined R10,000 or go to prison.
South Africa’s gambling board works with all major banks and the UK Gambling Commission to monitor online gambling taking place in the country.
