South African Politicians Worries Unsubstantiated

By Steve Vaughan on Sep 01, 2007 with Comments 0

South African (SA) politicians fear that the online gambling industry of the country will overshadow bricks and mortar casinos, been appeased with figures that show that the former, compared with the 80 percent engaged in land-based casino activity, only represents 2 percent of the gambling population Been used to quash claims by the Casino Association of SA, the statistics from SAÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s trade and industry department have shown that the introduction of online gambling did not had a negative impact on casinos.

Trade and industry acting deputy director- general Fungai Sibanda, told ParliamentÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s trade and industry committee earlier this week: Ã¢â‚¬Å“There is no apparent threat to the land-based casino from interactive gambling,Ã¢â‚¬Â

Comments made by Sibanda come as part of the ongoing debate into the pros and cons of internet gambling, which for the first time in the country, will become legal thanks to changes in the National Gambling Amendment Bill.