Free State is mostly made up of grassy flat plains and is divided into one metropolitan municipality and four district municipalities, which are then divided into 19 local municipalities. Agriculture is centre to its economy and there are over 30,000 farms whilst mining has over the years declined putting enormous pressure on the economy.
Te Free State Gambling, Liquor and Tourism Authority (FSGLTA) governs the industry and was set up via the merger of the former Free State Gambling and Racing Board and the Free State Liquor Authority and later the Free State Tourism Authority. Te merger also saw the review of the state gambling and liquor acts and saw the Free State Gambling and Liquor Act No 6 introduced in 2010.
Tis permits four casinos, 4,000 LPMs, totalisator, bookmakers and horse racing. Gambling revenue for the province was R629.9m in 2019 which is two per cent of total South African gambling revenues.
Taxes collected from the Free State gambling floor, smoking casino and salon privé.
An application fee for a casino licence is R228,000 whilst the holder of a casino licence also pays an annual licence fee of R57,000 plus R570 per gaming machine, R1,140 per casino table and R57 per bingo seat. A gambling levy of 5.7 per cent of GGR is also paid. Casino revenue in 2019 amounted to R418.6m and turnover was R8.39bn.
LPMS Te roll out of LPMs in the Free State began in
September 2011 with 1,000 of a total of 4,000 LPMs permitted. Tere are two Route Operators licensed to roll out LPM sites – Vukani Gaming and Goldrush.
BETTING Phumelela conducts horse racing and totalisator
betting under the TAB banner in Free State and operates the Vaal racecourse. Tis offers a classic 2,800m oval track and a Vaal Turf 3,000m oval circuit and with 1,600m has the longest straight in South Africa.
Te original licence for the Vaal racecourse began in 1944 but halted after objections related to inadequate controls from the Jockey Club of SA. In 1946 it was registered, and the Vaal Racing Club was formed shortly after.
Phumelela betting handle in 2019 amounted to R135m for Free State with R36m in betting income.
Betting GGR (bookmaker and totalisator) for Free State was R141.7m divided between betting on horse racing with R96.6m and betting on sport R44.9m.
sector amounted to R65m in 2019/20 with R8.4m from the horse racing sector, R32.1m from the casino sector and R12.9m from LPMs.
CASINOS Tere are four licensed casinos. Windmill Casino
is situated in the capital Bloemfontein and operated by Sun International. It has 401 slots and 18 table games plus a salon privè with 16 slots and two tables (non smoking) and three tables and 27 slots in the smoking area. Sun also operates the Naledi Sun located in Taba Nchu, just 45 minutes drive from Bloemfontein. Te site includes a conference centre whilst the casino has 100 slots only. Sun closed this site permanently in April.
Frontier Inn is a Peermont casino and located in Bethlehem and is a boutique casino and offers 143 slots and 10 table games. Te Peermont Metcourt Hotel offers three star accommodation with 21 rooms and finally Goldfields is operated by Tsogo Sun in Welkom offering 250 slots and nine table games spread over three areas – main
P80 NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / MARKET DATA
Te application fee for a gaming machine operator licence is R57,000 and an annual licence fee of R28,500 plus R285 per gaming machine. Te gambling levy is 11.4 per cent of the GGR.
Application fee for a gaming machine site licence is R5,700 plus an annual licence fee of R2,850 plus R285 per gaming machine. Gambling levy is 11.4 per cent of GGR.
Goldrush has 1,000 LPMs in Free State currently. Vukani is the only gaming operator licensed in all nine provinces and operates Vslots and Luck@It LPMs. Tsogo Sun has 374 Vslots in Free State.
LPM revenue for 2019 was R59.1m and LPM turnover was R883.5m.
BINGO No licences. Bingo policy is currently at the final
planning stage and requests for application are expected in the near future.
Tere are eight bookmakers operating with in the province in Lejweleputswa, Mangaung and Tabo Mofutsanyane. During 2018/19 the authority invited interested parties to apply for 21 bookmaker licences around the province’s five districts and the process has been finalised and licences awarded which should begin operations in the 2020/21 financial year.
Essential information and facts about Free State:
Capital
Population Authority
Bloemfontein 2.7 million
Free State Gambling, Liquor and Tourism Authority
Gambling Taxes
Website
www.gla.fs.gov.za GGR R629.9m R50.3m
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