Rise Mzansi to picket at DTIC, demands gambling law reforms


Rise Mzansi will picket outside the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition in Pretoria, calling for urgent reforms to the country’s gambling laws on Friday

The party plans to hand over a memorandum of demands, outlining the party’s seven-point plan to overhaul the gambling industry. 

The party’s action comes after the National Gambling Board revealed a R1.5 trillion turnover in the 2024/25 financial year, which was largely driven by online betting. 

Rise Mzansi says gambling continues to destroy the lives of vulnerable groups and is calling on the DTIC to regulate online gambling advertising as well as prohibit the spending of all types of social grants.  

The party’s Parliamentary Whip, Makashule Gana says that they are calling for the review of the tax regime governing the gambling industry and the introduction of a sin tax. 

“We’re calling for the reduction of advertising hours so that the times that children and the vulnerable groups are listening to radio or watching TV, there’s no gambling advertising. We’re also calling for the amount that the gambling industry spends on advertising and marketing that at least 40% of that budget should go towards responsible gambling and educating South Africans.”

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