Piggs Peak awaits appeal date

By Leon Engelbrecht, ITWeb senior writer

Johannesburg, 05 Jun 2007

Casino Enterprises, better known by its online name of Piggs Peak Casino, is awaiting a court date in the Supreme Court of Appeal to clarify the legal status of online gambling.

An advocate involved in the case says the matter will probably be heard later this year.

"Yes, we have submitted our documentation for appeal, [but] we have not yet been given a date when the appeal will be heard," confirms Piggs Peak marketing manager Wendy Graaf.

Pretoria High Court judge Willie Hartzenberg in February gave the company leave to appeal his November judgment that found he could not grant them an order declaring online gambling legal.

In his 27 November judgment, Hartzenberg said that, in his view, Casino Enterprises did not disclose a reason for approaching him for the order. "In the result, I shall set aside the declaration and allow the plaintiff time to file an amended declaration," Hartzenberg said in the judgment, of which ITWeb has a copy.

Despite Hartzenberg effectively setting aside the case, both parties have drawn diametrically opposite conclusions from what he said. The National and Gauteng Gambling Boards view Hartzenberg's judgment as a victory and threatened to prosecute online casinos, gamblers and advertisers alike, while Casino Enterprises believed its activities were perfectly legal.

The judgment also affects the legality of advertising online gambling, an aspect also in limbo.

Public submissions

The appeal may, however, be rendered moot by a Gambling Amendment Bill currently before Parliament. This will allow the National Gambling Board to regulate online and other forms of interactive gambling.

However, the response to a call for public submissions on the Bill, in March, was somewhat underwhelming, says the Department of Trade and Industry. Brian Muthwa, the department's director for legislative drafting, says only about 20 submissions were received. Although some were quite bulky, "some submissions elaborated on issues that are not relevant," Muthwa says, such as the morality of gambling and its status as a "vice".

On the issue of gambling as a vice, the National Gambling Board previously said it is better to regulate than to ban, as regulation allowed the state to set parameters, while prohibition merely drove the activity underground where more social harm would be done.

None of the current crop of online casinos, such as Silver Sands and Piggs Peak, put in a submission. An association representing licensed real (as opposed to "virtual") casinos did make a submission, as did several companies that are toying with the idea of entering the market. Among them was MultiChoice, the pay television company.