Gauteng Gambling Board

The Gauteng Gambling Board (GGB) was established in August 1996 with the goal of overseeing activities like betting on horse racing and other sports. It also supervises casino games, lottery and bingo, and limited payout gaming machines. Finally, the board also inspects the manufacturing and supply of equipment related to gambling.

GGB Timeline

• Pre-1996 Landscape: Prior to the mid-1990s, the strict 1965 Gambling Act banned nearly all forms of commercial gambling across South Africa, with the single exception of horse racing.

• Establishment: Following South Africa's transition to democracy, the national policy shifted to formalize and safely regulate the industry. The Gauteng Provincial Legislature enacted the Gauteng Gambling Act (Act No. 4 of 1995).

• The Launch: This legislation officially legalised commercial gambling in the province and established the Gauteng Gambling Board, which formally began its oversight operations in August 1996.

What Does the Gauteng Gambling Board Regulate?

The GGB operates as a regulatory authority under the Gauteng Department of Economic Development. Its primary mandates include:

• Licensing & Registration: Evaluating and issuing licenses to credible operators, bookmakers, and casinos. It also registers individual employees working within the gaming sector and ensures they pass strict suitability background checks.

• Regulation & Equipment Approval: Inspecting and approving all gambling hardware and digital software (like physical slot machines or digital betting random number generators) to ensure that the games are fair and mathematically sound.

• Revenue Collection: Collecting gambling taxes and levies on behalf of the Gauteng Provincial Government. These funds are redirected toward the socio-economic development of the province.

• FICA Compliance: Acting as a supervisory body to enforce the Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FICA), ensuring that operators verify player IDs to eradicate money laundering and terrorist financing.

• Responsible Gambling: Managing public awareness campaigns to combat gambling addiction, cooperating directly with the National Responsible Gambling Programme (NRGP), and resolving disputes between players and licensed operators.

⚠️ Regulatory Note: While the Gauteng Gambling Board regulates land-based casinos and online sports betting, the legality of online "casino-style" games (slots and live tables) remains heavily contested. The National Gambling Board maintains that remote interactive casino gambling is illegal, and recent Supreme Court rulings have clamped down on Gauteng bookmakers offering casino products under sports betting licenses. New national legislation is currently being drafted to formally address this grey market.

Jurisdiction

The GGB’s authority is legally defined by both geographic boundaries and industry sector definitions:

• Geographic Jurisdiction: The board’s jurisdiction is strictly provincial. It regulates physical land-based venues located exclusively inside the borders of Gauteng (including major properties like Montecasino, Emperors Palace, Gold Reef City, and Carnival City).

• Sector Jurisdiction: The GGB has direct legislative power over:

  • Casino Gaming

  • Sports Betting and Horse Racing

  • Bingo (including Electronic Bingo Terminals)

  • Limited Payout Gaming Machines (LPMs found in pubs and hotels)

  • The manufacturing and supply of all gambling equipment.

• The Online Jurisdiction Boundary: While the GGB issues bookmaker licenses that allow companies to offer online sports betting to players nationwide, it operates within the broader frameworks set by South Africa’s National Gambling Board (NGB). As a result, its local provincial licenses cannot explicitly override national laws when it comes to the ongoing legal debates surrounding interactive online casino games.

How does the GGB Define Gambling?

The GGB views gambling as a positive activity as it contributes to the development and growth of the economy and tourism. It creates jobs, which is a great thing when you take the issue of poverty and unemployment into account.

There are three kinds of work that the betting industry has created and sustained. Yebo, we have the Gauteng Gambling Board to thank for:

1. Jobs in the provincial construction industry.

2. Work related to the ongoing running of this sector.

3. Jobs were created due to increased spending on construction and other operations.

In addition, local casinos and betting shops create plenty of ongoing employment opportunities. Land-based gambling venues require a vast number of staff to keep them running. In Gauteng, there are already seven regulated casinos. These casinos all employ a large staff contingent.

As hard as the GGB works to avoid it, some of the outcomes of gambling legislation won’t be all that great. Problem betting is an unavoidable issue. But the Board’s Responsible Gambling program mitigates and prevents these dangers.

Gauteng Gambling Board CEO

The leadership structure of the Gauteng Gambling Board (GGB) has faced a tumultuous timeline marked by whistleblower reports, forensic audits, and a revolving door of executive suspensions.

June 2021: The Fall of Steven Ngubeni

• The Event: Permanent CEO Dr Steven Ngubeni is placed on precautionary suspension by the board following whistleblowing reports.

• The Scandal: A subsequent forensic investigation uncovers a money-laundering and misconduct scheme. Ngubeni had taken an unlawful loan from the GGB, which was paid off by a non-profit organisation (Intsika Yo Sizo), which was then corruptly reimbursed by the GGB using money seized from illegal gambling operations.

• The Outcome: Ngubeni formally resigns under a massive cloud of corruption, fraud, and financial misconduct charges.

June 2021 – January 2023: The Thiran Marimuthu Interim Era

• The Event: Thiran Marimuthu, the Senior Manager for Gaming Control, is promoted to serve as the Acting CEO to steady the ship and restore governance.

• The Outcome: Marimuthu manages the GGB for roughly 18 months, steering operations through the aftermath of Ngubeni’s departure.

January 2023: The Political Shake-up & Purge

• The Event: The Gauteng MEC for Economic Development, Tasneem Motara, abruptly terminates Marimuthu’s acting tenure, claiming an 18-month acting stint is a governance irregularity.

• The New Appointment: Motara appoints Dr Karabo Mbele as the new head of the GGB.

• The Internal Purge: Immediately upon taking office, Mbele launches an aggressive internal restructuring. She formally suspends Thiran Marimuthu (reverting him from his senior management role) alongside the CFO, the acting COO, and the head of HR. Marimuthu and the other executives take the matter to the High Court, but their urgent interdict to stop the suspension is dismissed.

December 2025: Board Resignations

• The Event: Amid growing internal friction and unresolved governance issues, several members of the Gauteng Gambling Board resign, leaving the entity operating without a fully constituted board.

May 2025 – May 2026: The R73 Million SDF Scandal Unravels

• The Allegations (May 15, 2026): Political party Build One South Africa (BOSA) lays formal criminal charges of fraud and corruption against CEO Dr. Karabo Mbele at the Bramley Police Station.

• The Whistleblower Evidence: Documents expose that Mbele had unlawfully bypassed protocols to distribute R73 million in Social Development Fund (SDF) allocations for the 2023/2024 cycle before due diligence or board approvals were completed. Furthermore, she is caught in a massive conflict of interest for funnelling nearly R750,000 in recruitment contracts to an agency (CCB Recruitment) registered directly to her private home address, where she had previously served as a director.

May 18, 2026: Dr Karabo Mbele Fired

• The Event: An independent forensic investigation led by Advocate William Mokhare SC validates the whistleblowing claims.

• The Action: The newly appointed Gauteng Economic Development MEC, Vuyiswa Ramokgopa, holds a live press conference and fires Dr. Karabo Mbele with immediate effect for gross misconduct and serious governance failures.

• Collateral Damage: The GGB’s Chief Financial Officer (Oscar Maripane) is also suspended with immediate effect for PFMA non-compliance and procurement irregularities.

Current Status (Present Day, July 2026)

• The Situation: The GGB permanent CEO position remains vacant, and the entity has no fully active board. The provincial government has placed the regulator under an independent administrator while they attempt a complete structural clean-up.

Gauteng Gambling Board Members

As of mid-2026, the Gauteng Gambling Board (GGB) does not have an active, functioning board of members. The governance of the entity collapsed following a series of high-profile resignations and corruption investigations. The timeline explains the current board situation:

• December 2025 Board Dissolution: Following severe internal friction, pushback against executive malpractice, and breakdown in oversight, the majority of the GGB board members resigned simultaneously. This left the entity completely crippled and operating without a legally constituted board.

• May 2026 Structural Intervention: Following the live firing of CEO Dr. Karabo Mbele and the suspension of CFO Oscar Maripane due to a massive R73 million fraud scandal, the Gauteng MEC for Economic Development, Vuyiswa Ramokgopa, officially stepped in to dissolve any remaining remnants of the board structure.

The Current Plan for 2026

Because there are no active board members, the Gauteng Provincial Government announced that an independent Administrator is being appointed to temporarily run and stabilize the GGB. This administrator will hold total executive and oversight authority over the entity while MEC Ramokgopa opens a public, legislative process to recruit and vet a brand-new, untainted board of directors later this year.

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