Africa Focus
The managing director of South Africa’s largest sportsbook and chairman of the
Western Cape Bookmakers Association talks about the damaging potential effects
of the proposed amendments to the country’s gambling laws. He also outlines the
ways his company is looking outside the box to provide players with new products
built large businesses betting on the outcome of local and
foreign lottery results. Another signifi cant consequence for related
industry stakeholders is the provision prohibiting banks and
internet service providers from processing payments or providing
technological support to operators without licences that currently
engage in this activity.
Do you think there is still potential for the industry
to infl uence change?
There are a number of proposals and some major operational
challenges, and not all specifi c to the bookmaking industry.
This bill will create some challenges across the gambling sector
as a whole, with structural changes and overhauls throughout
the sector, including to some existing licensing authorities, and
it is for this reason that I expect the process of signing it into law to
be long and arduous. So I think there is plenty of time for industry
and public engagement. Hopefully as an industry we will see
positive and constructive participation, with outcomes that are
acceptable to all parties.
There have been a lot of false starts on the issue of
licensing new verticals in South Africa. Are you hopeful
there might be an opening up of the market anytime soon?
I think this bill is an attempt at moving us in the other direction.
However, we all know that regulation can’t ever keep pace with
innovation, so an interesting development now is the creative
blurring of lines and innovative operators moving into verticals
outside of the traditional licence scope but still technically fi tting
into existing law. For example, on the Sportingbet site we offer
fi xed odds betting products from suppliers such as Evolution
and Betgames as fully licensed, regulated and permitted services.
In a fi rst for online gaming in South Africa, earlier this year
Sportingbet began offering the Dream Catcher game from
Evolution on our site. It is a live dealer casino-style game where
players bet on a ‘wheel of fortune’ in an immersive studio-based
gaming experience. We are also in the process of obtaining
approval to launch some of the Ezugi live dealer and draw
products, as well as an expanded Betgames product suite.
Since 2008 we have sat and waited for certain verticals to
become regulated but there’s a move now towards building
products that fi t within the existing regulation and the likes of
these games fi t within the existing regulation.
Legislation aside, sports betting has been the dominant
vertical until now in Africa. How much potential do you
think verticals such as casino and poker have in the
South African and wider African markets?
I have always believed we should be prioritising consumer
protection and establishing a regulatory framework for
licensed operators to build businesses that can meet and
satisfy the varied needs of all consumers. As far back as 2008,
I have been quoted calling for action and amendments to
policy on this. We can see by the number of unlicensed and
unregulated casino and poker sites targeting South Africans
that there is huge demand for these verticals. Gambling with
licensed operators is a permitted and regulated activity in
South Africa. Therefore, customers should have the right to
choose the channel and form of entertainment they wish
to participate in. It’s up to the government to provide the
framework and protections. The Casino Association of
South Africa has also recently made announcements on
the proliferation of these unlicensed businesses and the
consequences of having no consumer protection framework
or benefi t of tax collection.
Do you see opportunities for Sportingbet SA in
other African countries as they move forward
with legislation?
Of course. Natural resources have long made Africa a
land of opportunity; now is the time to focus on the igaming
potential. Africa, however, is complex and is made up of 54
very unique countries. As a business we’ve identifi ed regulated
markets where we understand the complexities and localisation
required, where we can work closely with regulators and are
positioned so that the businesses we build will be successful
in a mobile-centric environment. Watch this space.
You’ve worked with regulators in a number of
African nations. How do you see the overall African
regulated gambling space shaping up over the next
fi ve years or so?
Most of the African regulators are in a very favourable
position in that they get to look at regulations and policy
from around the world and adapt it to their markets
rather than create things from scratch, which is enviable.
iGamingBusiness | Issue 112 | September/October 2018
59