Paul Kirk
The chair of the KwaZulu-Natal Gambling Board wants to see the province’s gaming legislation rewritten.
If Alan Doorasamy has his way, the mere possession of a gambling machine without a permit from the Gambling Board will be a criminal offence. This, he believes, is the simplest and most effective way to stop illegal casinos from operating.
The proposed changes to the legislation were first mooted in February. However, this week they were made public at a meeting between police, the provincial Gambling Board and the legal casino operators.
The meeting was called to address the issue of illegal casinos after the Mail & Guardian exposed a secret deal between the state attorney’s office and a number of illegal casinos that effectively gave the institutions complete protection from prosecution.
Durban newspapers carried comment from the state attorney’s office that claimed the deal was struck because loopholes existed in the gambling laws at the time. And after initially confirming the deal was secret, Durban police claimed the deal was not secret at all.
The claim that the deal was not secret was denied by Doorasamy.
“First off, as chair of the Gambling Board I knew nothing, absolutely nothing, about this deal. I would have been outraged if I had heard about it. In fact I have yet to even see a copy of it,” said Doorasamy.
“Secondly, I have been chair of this board since before that agreement was signed and am a legal practitioner by training. The law has not changed at all since that deal was struck. There are no loopholes in the law now and there were no loopholes in the law back then.
Charles Bell, the attorney who signed the deal on behalf of the state, left the state attorney’s office soon after signing the agreement.
Although Doorasamy did not raise these issues at the meeting on Monday he said they were of great importance.
He praised the M&G for writing about the deal. “If you had not exposed this matter the illegal casinos would still be in operation and the state would be losing millions.”
Doorasamy said that largely because of competition from illegal casinos, legal operations were losing out on customers. “One operation is running at 50% below budget. After all, if legal casinos are losing money, then the state is losing revenue.”