Ninth consecutive clean audit for national gambling regulator for fy 2023/24
Pretoria, 22 August 2024. Consistency is a key factor against which the success of any organisation is measured. At the country’s national gambling regulator, the National Gambling Board (NGB), sentiments are running high following the achievement of a milestone ninth consecutive year of clean audits, signifying the birth of a clean administration era. This comes on the back of the external audit of the government entity’s 2023/2024 Financial Year (FY) performance.
At the helm of the NGB for the entire period of its clean administration, the Accounting Authority, Ms. Caroline Kongwa, comments: “For me, this is ample proof that we take accountability seriously at the NGB, that financial management is conducted with all due care, and that we continue to put in place the checks and balances that are needed to comply with the framework of good governance. The team at the NGB has achieved what we set out to do, and have become a formidable force for bringing the organisation firmly into this new era.”
The history of the NGB has not been without its challenges, with some detractors continuing to fixate on darker days of governance failures. “We have turned a corner in the administration of our organisation a long time ago,” Ms. Kongwa says. “The track record of the past nine financial years speaks louder than any words ever could – it exemplifies good governance in action.” NGB Gambling Audit
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The letter of the law remains an important lodestar guiding the frameworks and policies at the NGB. A rigorous schedule of planning and implementation ensures that compliance is factored into all key performance targets, with regular checks conducted during the financial year and the necessary balances put in place.
This mindset is echoed in the core function of the entity, where compliance and enforcement of the law is conducted regularly through an oversight function, to ensure that Provincial Licensing Authorities are also towing a legal line. “Developments in an increasingly digital world keep us on our toes. Changes in society need to be echoed in our legal frameworks, and that is what we continue to grapple with as we steam ahead towards continuous improvement,” Ms. Kongwa concludes.
About the national gambling board
The National Gambling Board (NGB), an agency of the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic), was established in terms of the National Gambling Act, Act No 33 of 1996 which was repealed on 01 November 2004 by the National Gambling Act, 2004, (Act No 7 of 2004) (‘the Act’). The Act makes provision for the oversight of matters relating to casinos, gambling, betting and wagering and promotes uniform norms and standards in relation to gambling throughout South Africa.
The strength of the NGB is informed by multiple decades of regulating a gambling industry which was fragmented with low credibility from the pre-1994 era. Its performance outcome is an effectively regulated and continuously supervised gambling industry, which is a significant economic sector that upholds national and internationally recognised standards of compliance and consequently national and international industry reputation.
The NGB is a regulator with concurrent competencies with the provincial gambling regulators. Its work is to ensure harmonisation and consistency with the National Gambling Act and its statutes. The NGB provides a stable environment within which the gambling industry can grow its operations for the benefit of all.
Additionally, the NGB prioritises broad-based public education around illegal gambling and responsible gambling in the best interest of the South African public, balancing a capable state, with the economic growth of the industry and social cohesion.
NGB Vision
To position South Africa as the pre-eminent jurisdiction with an exemplary and effectively regulated gambling industry.
NGB Mission
Lead the regulation of the gambling industry in the fulfilment of the National Gambling Act, 2004, through an effectively regulated and supervised gambling industry that upholds domestic, continental and internationally recognised standards of compliance. NGB Gambling Audit
