{"id":12602,"date":"2025-11-11T12:17:22","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T15:17:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/?p=12602"},"modified":"2026-04-19T11:56:02","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T14:56:02","slug":"mpumalanga-regulator-clarifies-stance-on-casino-bets-amid-sca-ruling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/mpumalanga-regulator-clarifies-stance-on-casino-bets-amid-sca-ruling","title":{"rendered":"Mpumalanga regulator clarifies stance on casino bets amid SCA ruling"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The MER\u2019s stance reflects Mpumalanga&#8217;s more permissive approach, where bookmakers can offer bets on casino games, virtual titles and other events, provided they hold a valid licence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>South Africa.- The <strong>Mpumalanga Economic Regulator (MER)<\/strong> has declared its position on the <strong>Supreme Court of Appeal&#8217;s judgement<\/strong> on whether bets on casino games like roulette fall under bookmaker licences. While addressing questions from licensees and the public, the regulator emphasised that its framework, under the <strong>Mpumalanga Gambling Act of 1995 <\/strong>and the <strong>National Gambling Act<\/strong>, permits licensed bookmakers to accept bets on any legal outcome, including casino games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The SCA case, <strong>Portapa (Pty) Ltd t\/a Supabets and Others v Casino Association of South Africa and Another<\/strong>, stemmed from a <strong>2017 dispute in Gauteng<\/strong>. It involves <strong>Supabets<\/strong>, a licensed bookmaker, which began offering fixed-odds bets on live-streamed roulette draws from a studio in Lithuania after receiving partial approval from the Gauteng Gambling Board. The <strong>Casino Association of South Africa (CASA)<\/strong> filed a complaint, arguing that roulette qualifies as a casino game under the <strong>Gauteng Gambling Act of 1995<\/strong>, and required a separate casino licence rather than a bookmaker one.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The High Court ruled in CASA&#8217;s favour in 2023, and the SCA upheld that decision last month, stating that roulette does not count as a \u201csporting event\u201d as defined in the Act. The judgement noted: \u201cRoulette is a casino game and should be played on casino premises\u201d, dismissing appeals from Supabets and the Gauteng board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The MER has now clarified that the SCA ruling \u201cdoes not affect the current betting offerings or contingencies available under Mpumalanga\u2019s legal framework\u201d. This stance reflects Mpumalanga&#8217;s more permissive approach, where bookmakers can offer bets on casino outcomes, virtual games and other events, provided they hold a valid licence. The position also draws from years of approvals for diverse contingencies, with a focus on supporting industry growth while maintaining regulatory oversight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Other provinces have issued similar clarifications. Earlier this month, the <strong>Western Cape Gambling and Racing Board (WCGRB)<\/strong> confirmed that its licensed bookmakers may continue offering a range of contingencies, including live casino games and RNG-based options, to customers nationwide.<\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"see-also-container\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"see-also-label\">See also:<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"related-article\">\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"related-article__thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/11\/justice-book_-Proxima-Studio-900x600-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"related-article__text\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"see-also-label-strong\">See also:<\/span> <a href='https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/national-gambling-board-backs-supreme-court-ruling-on-online-roulette'>National Gambling Board backs Supreme Court ruling on online roulette<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The MER\u2019s stance reflects Mpumalanga&#8217;s more permissive approach, where bookmakers can offer bets on casino games, virtual titles and other events, provided they hold a valid licence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2395,"featured_media":12604,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"The Mpumalanga Economic Regulator (MER) has clarified that the Supreme Court of Appeal's ruling, which determined roulette is a casino game requiring a casino license in Gauteng, does not impact Mpumalanga's more permissive framework. Under the Mpumalanga Gambling Act, licensed bookmakers can continue to offer bets on casino games and virtual titles, a stance echoed by the Western Cape Gambling and Racing Board, highlighting significant provincial regulatory divergence in South Africa.","focusai_entities":"Mpumalanga Economic Regulator, Supreme Court of Appeal, Portapa (Pty) Ltd t\/a Supabets, Supabets, Casino Association of South Africa, Gauteng Gambling Board, Western Cape Gambling and Racing Board, National Gambling Board, CASA","focusai_location":"South Africa, Mpumalanga, Gauteng, Lithuania, Western Cape","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (1.0), operator_casino (1.0), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.8), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Impact on National Framework","query":"How might the divergent provincial interpretations of bookmaker licensing for casino games influence the National Gambling Board's efforts to establish a unified regulatory framework for online gambling across South Africa, particularly concerning B2C licensing and product offerings?"},{"label":"M&A Implications","query":"What are the M&A implications for iGaming operators seeking to consolidate or expand their market share across South African provinces, given the current regulatory fragmentation regarding permissible gaming verticals and associated licensing requirements?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[60023,60011],"tags":[60108,60138,60033],"class_list":["post-12602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legal-news","category-south-africa","tag-casino","tag-legislation","tag-regulation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2395"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12602"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12602\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12656,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12602\/revisions\/12656"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}