A report from financial publication Business Day is claiming that the government of South Africa has determined that it should ban online gambling rather than attempt to legalize and regulate it.
The report claims that the decision is being discussed the country's National Gambling Policy Council, which will then head to the Cabinet to be approved before the public is allowed to comment on the matter.
The ban is reportedly being considered a viable option because the government wants to limit gambling, and the country feels that it can regulate the current regulations put into place. The government also claims that its citizens have a higher amount of personal debt and problem gambling than many other countries in the world.
The decision is not being universally hailed in the country though, as Democratic Alliance Spokesman Geordin Hill-Lewis said, "That is a very, very bad decision. I fiercely disagree with that view. It is completely shortsighted to say that it is better for South Africans not to be allowed to gamble online when there is patently significant demand in the country to do that. It is for government to facilitate that in the safest way possible."