By Perpetua Murungweni
Desperate Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube recently introduced a 10% withholding tax on betting houses in Zimbabwe, in a bid to fund government from 539 betting houses licenced in Zimbabwe.
The Zimbabwe Lotteries and Gaming Board (LGB) indicated in their 2024 strategic plan meeting, held on December 4, 2024, that they had managed to license over 500 gambling outlets in Zimbabwe to ensure compliance.
This number suggests that the government is poised to make significant revenue from the tax as more people frequent betting houses due to the challenging economic situation.
“In 2024, we had targeted the issuance of 535 licenses, but by now we have issued out 539 licenses, which is not really scary and it’s within our target. As the lotteries and gaming board, we are charged with the responsibility to license all those interested in pursuing gaming activities, such as sports betting, lotteries, and casinos.
“As we are doing that, we are guided by the philosophy of gambling density, where we monitor the number of entities or gaming activities within any geographical space so that we don’t end up exposing our general citizenry to gambling hubs by unveiling unnecessary access to gaming activities,” said LGB interim secretary Dr. Misheck Chingozha.
The board acknowledged challenges in regulating online gambling and expressed hope that a statutory instrument would be in place by 2025 to address this issue.
“In view of the advent of technology, there is some proliferation of illegal activities, and we are falling short in terms of online gaming. Currently, our legislation doesn’t address this, but efforts are underway. We have sent our principles to cabinet in August and they have since been approved. It’s work in progress, and we are hoping that by the first quarter of 2025, at least we will be having an (SI) that will help us to deal with such illegalities,” said Chingozha.
Speaking at the event, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Chido Sanyatwe encouraged the board to develop strategies to ensure compliance and adherence by gaming operators.
“I call upon the board to intensify their strategies that enhance compliance with the gaming industry’s framework. The strategies must ensure strict adherence and compliance by all operators in the industry. This must be controlled and balanced with the growth of revenue collection, protection from gambling harm, and social responsibility,” said Sanyatwe.
Sanyatwe also urged the board to implement strategies that promote responsible gaming practices to protect players and control operator density to limit overcrowding of gambling services.
“Strategies that enhance responsible gaming practices and protection of players should remain top agenda of this board. Such policies and strategies should not just be window-dressing policies to tick your compliance boxes but reflect commitment to the protection of players. Intensify the control of operator density to limit overcrowding of gambling services to the detriment of other social and economic obligations of the citizens,” said Sanyatwe.
She reminded the board that gambling is closely associated with drug and substance abuse and that the board must develop strategies to mitigate this risk.
“The board is reminded that drug and substance abuse is closely related to gambling, and the strategies must reflect how this regulatory authority is going to mitigate this risk,” said Sanyatwe.
