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The South African government is being progressive
enough to allow for the regulation of online casinos in the country.
That does not mean the country has any intention of being lenient on
companies that have been operating illegally in the country before the
legalization and regulation of online casinos.
Although, the country does not seem to have any
intention of taking the American route of prosecuting a company on laws
that did not exist at the time of their operation, they are not allowing
regulation to be a free ticket for companies that have exploited the
laws, or lack of laws, in the past.
South African authorities are forbidding online
casino providers that operated illegally in the country before
regulation from applying for a legal operator’s license once regulations
have been passed. This is a big problem for the until now successful
Silversands Poker. By taking advantage of the absence of Internet
gambling regulations, Silversands Poker has operated boldly in the
country, even advertising on South African national television.
There seems to be no love loss between Silversands
and the gambling authorities in South Africa. The South African brick
and mortar gambling industry, just like any other brick and mortar
industry in the world attempting to compete with online casinos, have
not been able to hold their own against the immensely popular online
gambling site.
Just last year the Casino Association of South
Africa submitted a complaint about Silversands advertising campaigns to
the Advertising Standards Authority, with no results.
“We have let it ride for now. There was no point in pursuing Silversands
as there is no regulation yet to hold them to,” said Derek Auret, the
Casino Association of South Africa CEO.
Casino News