05 Mar 2019

Two casino outlets will be opened in Kasane and Maun to support tourism resorts, Francistown full council meeting has learnt.

Addressing a council meeting recently, Gambling Authority chief finance officer, Mr Peter Kesitilwe, said the new outlets would include horse racing, betting, electronic bingos and  sports betting.

“National lottery for good causes funding and the development of sports, arts facilities, small societies fund raising and people will be part of the new industries,” he said.

Mr Kesitilwe said the new Gambling Authority regulations were published in 2016.

The authority began operations in April 2016 and took over nine licensed Botswana operators from the Casino Control Board.

In terms of employment, he said the Gambling Authority employed 53 members of staff being fresh graduates of which 34 percent was above the age of 34 while 66 percent was below the age of 35.

He said lottery meant any scheme for the distribution of prices by chance or bet in which the participant or a substantial number of them make a contribution for the purposes of participation in the chance of the lottery.

For betting, he said it meant making or accepting a bet on the outcome of a race, competition or other event of any description and the likelihood of anything occurring or not occurring or whether anything was true or not.

As for bingo, he said it meant a game of a number of people, each having a card marked off as numbers were drawn, noting that bookmaker meant a person who came on a business of receiving or negotiating bets or conducting pool betting operations.

Mr Kesitilwe further said a person who bet on a sporting event, was known as a totalizator or any other machine or instrument of betting of a like nature.

On the other hand, he said casinos were premises on which gambling was conducted and in respect of which a license has been granted while Promotional Competition meant a lottery conducted for the purpose of promoting the sale or use of any goods or services.

Mr Kesitilwe said private lottery or raffle meant a lottery conducted for and by members of the social or supporting club which is not connected with any form of gambling, by persons who work on the same premises and by persons who resides in the same premises.

On other developments, Mr Kesitilwe said that the Excessive Gambling Prevention and Rehabilitation Committee was responsible for guiding and monitoring the development and implementation of the strategies aimed at preventing addictive or compulsive gambling and rehabilitating compulsive gamblers.

They monitor that under-age and vulnerable persons are protected from gambling activities and messages/advertising is not targeted to children. 

He said that old Acts which was repealed and replaced with the Gambling Act of 2012 with a mandate to issue multiple license types and responsible for compliance and monitoring the industry, noting that its mandate included prevention of potential ill effects of excessive gambling and mandated with transformation of leadership in establishment as well as disbursement and management of funds for good causes. ENDS