Cape Town – The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) has referred the National Gambling Amendment Bill to the mediation committee for a decision to be taken within 30 days.
This comes after the bill could not get the required number of votes when it was put to the vote during a plenary session on Tuesday.
Tabling the report on the bill, ANC MP Kenneth Mmoiemang said the bill provided for the procedure for the forfeiture of unlawful winnings to the National Gambling Regulator, the dissolution of the National Gambling Board, establishment of the National Gambling Regulator and the appointment of the CEO and deputy CEO in the National Gambling Regulator, among others.
Mmoiemang said there were different views from the provincial delegations on the processing of the bill.
“Provinces raised concerns regarding the proposed establishment of the National Gambling Regulator (NGR) without a board structure regarding issues of corporate governance,” he said.
Mmoiemang said the provinces also raised concerns about the National Central Electronic Monitoring System (NCEMS), which is currently monitoring limited payout machines and is set to be extended to all modes of gambling.
“Issues were raised that casinos and Bingos already have their own monitoring systems and provincial licensing authorities have access to this information when it is needed,” he said.
He also noted that issues of autonomy and independence of the provincial inspectorate were raised, where national inspectors were allowed to investigate without prior approval of the province and without being accompanied by their provincial counterparts.
The report tabled to NCOP showed that three provinces had voted in favour of the bill, four provinces voted against and two provinces abstained from voting at the select committee meeting.
ANC chief whip Seiso Mohai said since there was no sufficient requirement to reject or adopt the report, it should be referred to the mediation process so that issues raised could be responded to accordingly.
DA MP Cathlene Labuschagne said it could not be referred to the committee without being voted on in the NCOP plenary.
After some discussion, the NCOP delegates voted and three provinces gave the bill the green-light, four were against and two abstained.
NCOP chairperson Amos Masondo said since the bill was voted on, and did not muster the required support from five provinces, it would be referred to the mediation committee
However, the NCOP adopted four bills when they were put to the vote.
These are the Financial Sector Laws Amendment Bill, the National Environmental Management Laws Amendment Bill, the National Forests Amendment Bill and the Civil Aviation Amendment Bill.
POLITICAL BUREAU