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South Africa just experienced a grand move in the world of online gambling. The website Piggs Peak just received word that the North Gauteng High Court ruled that online gambling should be banned throughout the region. Of course, Piggs Peak website is planning on appealing the decision. The company is reeling from the ban but trying to use its own legal team to come up with ways to change the decision. If they do appeal, which is most likely the new move to come in coming days, they will be allowed to keep their website up and running throughout the process. The company is planning a business-as-usual mode of operations until the legal matters surrounding it are sorted out.
The topic of legalizing online gambling is rampant throughout the world and many legislators are fighting for proper regulations. The difference with South Africa is the huge fine if people are found gambling. according to the law, players who are found to be gambling online face fines of R10-million or ten years in prison, or both. That’s a huge risk for any gamer to take on and shows how strict the government is on the issue of online gambling. Part of the Piggs Peak argument was where their home base is. The company is based in Swaziland however that is well outside the South African jurisdiction. The legislators are countering with having a say over the activities because they are going on within their borders. To them it doesn’t matter where the company’s place of operations is based. This was a major part of Piggs Peaks’ argument and now that it has been shot down, the company’s legal team will have to come up with another argument to keep them up and running. The website operators originally took the issue to the Supreme Court of Appeal, SCA, in Bloemfontein but from there they were turned to North Gauteng High Court who made the undesirable decision. The appeal process can be lengthy in normal circumstances, but most likely not this one. Online gambling is at the top of the list of priorities and countries are trying their best to sort through all gambling laws and shore up regulations.