The South African Responsible Gambling Foundation (SARGF) whose flagship is the widely known National Responsible Gambling Programme (NRGP), was launched in June 2000 and incorporated in 2004 as a comprehensive industry response to challenges posed by problem gambling in a developing nation such as South Africa, after the legalisation of the gambling industry in mid-1996.
The SARGF is a public-private initiative between the government gambling regulators and the gambling industry in South Africa, and as such is funded by contributions from the South African gambling industry – which includes the casino, sports betting, bingo and limited pay-out machine (LPM) industries. The contribution is pegged at 0.1% of the industry’s Gross Gambling Revenue (GGR) (i.e. money staked less money paid out in winnings). In addition, the SARGF receives certain public grants for defined special projects and provincial responsible gambling interventions and programmes.
Although independent, the SARGF reports regularly on its activities to the industry and the provincial and national authorities charged with the regulation of gambling. Owing to the allotment of certain public grants to its operations, as well as the involvement of government regulators in its oversight, the SARGF chooses to align its governance approach to the principles of the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act 1 of 1999, as amended) (PFMA) and as such, all SARGF expenditure is fully audited and reported upon in quarterly and annual reports, which are publicly available