{"id":33606,"date":"2026-09-18T12:59:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T15:59:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/?p=33606"},"modified":"2026-09-21T07:51:17","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T10:51:17","slug":"north-west-gambling-board-gets-provincial-recognition-for-illegal-gambling-awareness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/north-west-gambling-board-gets-provincial-recognition-for-illegal-gambling-awareness","title":{"rendered":"North West Gambling Board gets provincial recognition for illegal gambling awareness"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The MEC encouraged the gambling regulator to take its awareness campaigns to more educational institutions and young people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

South Africa.- The North West Gambling Board (NWGB)<\/strong> has received recognition from the provincial government for its efforts to raise awareness about illegal gambling in the province. The acknowledgement came from Economic Development, Environment, Conservation and Tourism MEC Bitsa Lenkopane<\/strong> during an engagement with the department\u2019s state-owned entities (SOEs) at Bakgatla Resort in Pilanesberg<\/strong> on Thursday, September 17.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lenkopane said the NWGB\u2019s work in raising awareness about illegal gambling contributes to the province\u2019s regulatory and public education efforts. However, she urged the Board to extend the awareness drive to universities and other institutions where it can reach more young people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The commendation comes as the NWGB steps up its responsible gambling education among young people and communities. In August, the Board launched its first Responsible Gambling Soccer Tournament<\/a> for high schools across the province, using the competition to raise awareness of underage gambling and promote responsible gambling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Board has also taken its awareness work into communities through the Thuntsa Lerole accelerated service delivery programme. Earlier this month, it joined DEDECT and other provincial units for an outreach in Khunwana Village<\/a>, where residents received information on responsible gambling, illegal gambling and the risks of using unlicensed operators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Thursday\u2019s engagement, Lenkopane also called for closer coordination among the entities across the province\u2019s four districts, saying they should contribute to economic development, investment attraction and job creation. The meeting was attended by NWGB chairperson Prof George Malebe<\/strong> and acting chief executive officer Boitumelo Qalinge<\/strong>, alongside representatives from other entities under the department.<\/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> NWGB calls for player protection at North West Tourism Month launch<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The MEC encouraged the gambling regulator to take its awareness campaigns to more educational institutions and young people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2395,"featured_media":33610,"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 North West Gambling Board (NWGB) in South Africa has been commended by the provincial government for its efforts in raising awareness about illegal gambling and promoting responsible gambling, particularly among young people. The MEC urged the NWGB to expand these campaigns to more educational institutions to reach a broader youth demographic. This initiative includes community outreach and a responsible gambling soccer tournament for high schools.","focusai_entities":"North West Gambling Board, NWGB, Economic Development, Environment, Conservation and Tourism MEC, Bitsa Lenkopane, Prof George Malebe, Boitumelo Qalinge, DEDECT","focusai_location":"South Africa, North West, Pilanesberg, Khunwana Village","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.8), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (0.7), investor_analyst (0.7), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Funding for Awareness?","query":"What specific budget allocations or funding mechanisms are being considered by the North West Gambling Board to expand its responsible gambling and illegal gambling awareness campaigns to educational institutions and youth?"},{"label":"Impact on Unlicensed Ops?","query":"How will the North West Gambling Board measure the efficacy of its expanded awareness campaigns in reducing participation in illegal gambling and mitigating the risks associated with unlicensed operators within the province?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[60019,60011],"tags":[60635,73,1593],"class_list":["post-33606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-regulation-news","category-south-africa","tag-awareness-campaigns","tag-illegal-gambling","tag-responsible-gambling"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33606","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=33606"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33606\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33685,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33606\/revisions\/33685"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}