Online gambling in SA could generate R6 billion in revenue and add an estimated R1 billion in taxes to the state's coffers each year.
UK-based betting community Betfair says the global online gambling industry has grown from zero in the late 1990s, to more than $20 billion this year, and is expected to continue growing at 10% a year until 2015.
However, online - or interactive - gaming is currently illegal in SA, after a September ruling by the Supreme Court of Appeal.
The Gambling Review Commission last year recommended that online wagering be made legal, and that more than 10 licences be issued. However, changes to the legislation could take about two years to come into effect.
Betfair public affairs manager Tom Tuxworth, who recently presented to a Parliamentary Portfolio Committee hearing into online gambling, says the anticipated benefits to SA's economy are based on estimates made in reports by H2 Gambling Capital and Gambling Compliance.
Locally, the gambling sector earned R17 billion in revenue last year, while government made R1.6 million in taxes in the year to March 2011, according to the latest figures from the National Gambling Board.
Tuxworth says Internet-based wagering should be legalised. “Any attempt to prohibit online gambling simply drives consumer demand into the offshore and unregulated market.”
In addition, says Tuxworth, realistic online gambling legislation would give SA the opportunity to become a technology hub for a growing sector, and would create many skilled technology jobs, as well as other jobs in areas such as advertising.
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