MEA Sept 2017 cover- Six Construct

24 MEA MARKETS / September 2017 , TheWestern Cape Gambling and Racing Board (the Board) is a public entity and derives its mandate from theWestern Cape Gambling and Racing Act 4 of 1996 as amended. Following the firm’s success inwinning the Best Governmental Education Department 2017 award, as part of the South African Business Awards, we invited the firm’sWilliamBowers to provide an insight into the Board’s work. Play Your Cards Right The Western Cape Gambling and Racing Board (the Board) is based within the Western Cape Province of South Africa. It is the vision of the Board to be recognised nationally and internationally, as a leading gambling and betting regulatory authority. The responsibility of the Board is to ensure that all gambling and racing operations as well as other activities incidental thereto are conducted in accordance with the relevant legislation and in a manner which public confidence in the gambling industry is maintained. The Board is charged with receiving and investigating applications for licences, pertaining to the various sectors of the gambling and betting industries in the province. We consider licence applications and exercise regulatory authority over the conduct of gambling and betting operations, by all entities and persons licensed by it. As such, the Board renders services to the province, the gambling industry and the public, by ensuring the following: • Through probity investigations, that only appropriate persons, who meet the applicable legal requirements, are licensed to participate in the industry; • Through ongoing oversight over the licensed industry, that licensed operations take place in accordance with the prescribed requirements and procedures, as well as operating fairly towards the public; • Through the imposition of license conditions, that license holders comply with the undertakings made in their bids or other requirements stipulated by the Board and conduct their activities, in a socially responsible manner; • Through enforcement of the law, that illegal gambling activities are both detected and prosecuted and; • Through the attendance at both national and international conferences and industry related events, together with the internal training programmes in respect of such attendance, that the Board is kept abreast of the latest industry developments. Training and awareness The human resources department took on the task of public awareness and training and together with the Board’s Law Enforcement team has over the past eight months, provided training and created awareness of not only illegal gambling but also bringing the presence of the Board to the communities in the Western Cape. Given the fact that online casino gambling is illegal in South Africa, there is been a concerted effort made by the Board to educate our law enforcement agencies and the general public on this fact and on how to firstly recognise an online casino game and secondly, where to report it. Combating illegal online casino gambling is one of the Board’s biggest challenges, given the difficulty in monitoring and policing the Internet. The approach taken in tacking this challenge it to create awareness within communities as to the dangers associated with such activities. Other than the fact that online casino gambling is illegal, there are many other negatives around it; A problem gambler spending two or three days gambling at a casino will likely be noticed. In contrast, online gamblers can play at work, at home, or even on smart phones without anyone being aware that they are gambling; SA170022 • A very important part of gambling addiction treatment is having a strategy to avoid play. For traditional gambling, this generally means avoiding casinos, bars, or other physical locations where gambling is made available. With online gambling, every computer with Internet access, tablet or cellular phone becomes a virtual casino awaiting the next bet; • Access to your bank account is always only a click away - which makes the likelihood of impulse betting and ‘chasing losses’ much greater compared to locations where one must physically withdraw money from a bank machine; • One of the most common ‘tricks’ used by online casinos is to offer a ‘free- to-play’ version of their games. The aim is to introduce new players to online gambling and make them feel comfortable placing real bets with real money after they have had some success with the free version and; • Players who provide personal information or credit card details to non- reputable online gambling websites may be placing