Trade and Industry Committee chairperson calls for moratorium on Electronic Bingo Terminals
Recently there has been an outcry from civil society in KwaZulu-Natal regarding proposed provincial legislation to allow electronic bingo terminals (EBTs) in shopping malls. The fear is that this would result in deeper moral, social and financial problems. Ms Joanmariae Fubbs, Chairperson of Trade and Industry, would like to emphasise that gambling legislation in South Africa hinges on the protection of society and players and not the proliferation of gambling activity.
In September 2010, the Gambling Review Commission had noted that the trend set by the Gauteng of introducing EBTs in the absence of a national framework and legislation had created a dangerous precedent and undermined the spirit of co-operative governance.
The Commission recommended that electronic bingo terminals (EBTs) should not be allowed in the country, as it created a third category of gaming machine with no limit on the stake or payout. Alternatively, the Commission suggested that these should clearly resemble the look, feel and sound of bingo and the numbers should be regulated.
The industry had argued that it should be allowed to implement technological advances to the same degree which other gambling industries were permitted to. It therefore recommended that national legislative amendments should be effected to remove any ambiguity regarding the permissibility of the use of bingo played by wholly electronic means at national and provincial levels. Currently, gambling legislation allowed bingo to be played wholly or partially using electronic means and thus, it was argued, EBTs met this requirement.
The Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry had supported the view that the look, feel and sound of EBTs should not be similar to slot machines, as this may be misleading to punters and have a fundamentally different psychological dimension to traditional forms of bingo. Furthermore, that there should be a limit on the total number of licences and seats or gaming positions per bingo hall licence.
In this regard, it had recommended that the Minister should consider clarifying the definition of bingo within the principal Act and amending the legislation so that electronic bingo machines retained a look, feel and sound that did not directly compete with slot machines and did not digress from the psychological impact of traditional forms of bingo.
The Department of Trade and Industry is in the process of amending the National Gambling Act, which will incorporate legislation for EBTs in line with the above recommendations. The proposed amendments should improve the economic viability of bingo halls, while protecting society and players.
Therefore, the Chairperson calls for a national moratorium on the establishment of EBTs and the issuing of licences until such time that the national framework is in place.
For media enquiries or interviews with the Chairperson, please contact:
Temba Gubula
Tel: 021 403 8307
Cell: 078 735 8809
Email: tgubula@parliament.gov.za
