{"id":20232,"date":"2026-03-12T17:44:58","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T20:44:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/?p=20232"},"modified":"2026-04-19T07:49:56","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T10:49:56","slug":"eswatini-mp-calls-for-gambling-regulation-to-move-to-commerce-ministry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/eswatini-mp-calls-for-gambling-regulation-to-move-to-commerce-ministry","title":{"rendered":"Eswatini MP calls for gambling regulation to move to Commerce Ministry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Masiphula Mamba\u2019s comments come amid renewed scrutiny of the country\u2019s gambling industry after reports of two young deaths linked to problem gambling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Eswatini.- An Eswatini lawmaker has suggested shifting gambling regulation from the Eswatini Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Affairs<\/strong> to the Eswatini Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade<\/strong> to improve supervision of betting operators. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Masiphula Mamba<\/strong>, representing Kubuta constituency<\/strong>, raised the proposal during debate on the tourism ministry\u2019s Annual Performance Report<\/strong>, arguing that it is not doing enough to effectively regulate the gambling sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mamba\u2019s comments come amid renewed scrutiny of the country\u2019s gambling industry after reports emerged that problem gambling contributed to two young deaths and significant financial losses in Kubuta. According to the MP, one young person died by suicide after gambling away school fees, while another, a mobile money agent, reportedly lost employer funds through betting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the incidents illustrate the \u201cdevastating social consequences\u201d of uncontrolled gambling and underscore the need for stronger regulation of the sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mbabane East MP<\/strong> and Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Welcome Dlamini<\/strong>, echoed the same concerns, stressing that student gambling is a growing problem and that current awareness campaigns and warnings are failing to curb the trend. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said: \u201cThe warnings that are published through advertisements do not seem to make any difference. In many cases, they appear on media platforms that are not frequently accessed by emaSwati.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response to rising concerns over gambling-related harms, the government has introduced a voluntary self\u2011exclusion programme to help individuals limit losses and manage addictive behaviour. Recently, Tourism and Environmental Affairs Minister Jane Mkhonta-Simelane<\/strong> announced that more than 27 individuals<\/a> have signed up for the platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ministry has also announced plans to collaborate with telecom providers to block mobile wallets for individuals under 18<\/strong>, while requiring customer registration with national ID documents to prevent underage gambling and improve age verification.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n\t\t\tSee also:<\/span><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tSee also:<\/span> Namibia Revenue Agency and Gambling Board partner on gambling regulation and tax compliance<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Masiphula Mamba\u2019s comments come amid renewed scrutiny of the country\u2019s gambling industry after reports of two young deaths linked to problem gambling.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2395,"featured_media":1282,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Eswatini lawmakers are advocating for a transfer of gambling regulatory authority from the Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Affairs to the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade. This proposal stems from heightened scrutiny following two problem gambling-related deaths and significant financial losses, highlighting the current ministry's perceived inadequacy in effective oversight. The government is concurrently implementing measures such as a voluntary self-exclusion program and plans for enhanced age verification and minor protection through telecom partnerships.","focusai_entities":"Masiphula Mamba, Welcome Dlamini, Jane Mkhonta-Simelane, Eswatini Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Eswatini Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade","focusai_location":"Eswatini, Kubuta, Mbabane East","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (1.0), operator_casino (0.9), product_ux (0.7), tech_data (0.7), payments_fraud_aml (0.9), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.8), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Regulatory Shift Impact","query":"What are the specific governance framework implications and potential operational challenges for licensed operators if gambling regulation is transferred to the Eswatini Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade?"},{"label":"Responsible Gambling Efficacy","query":"How will the proposed collaboration with telecom providers for mobile wallet blocking and mandatory national ID registration enhance the efficacy of age verification and responsible gambling controls compared to current measures?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[60019,60011],"tags":[60210,71,60075],"class_list":["post-20232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-regulation-news","category-south-africa","tag-age-verification","tag-gambling","tag-problem-gambling"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20232","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=20232"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20232\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20252,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20232\/revisions\/20252"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}