Elite Bingo appeal on license dismissed

A FULL bench of the Grahamstown High Court has dismissed Elite Bingo’s appeal against a judgment that found the provincial gambling board had correctly awarded bingo licences to two other companies in King William’s Town and Uitenhage.

Last year, Grahamstown High Court Judge Jeremy Pickering found that the Eastern Cape Gambling and Betting Board had been scrupulously fair and even indulgent in their dealings with Elite Bingo (KWT) and Elite Bingo (UTH), whose respective bids for the King William’s Town and Uitenhage licences had been disqualified.

In both cases, Elite Bingo had failed to get the necessary special consent from the two municipalities for their premises to be used as bingo halls.

As a result, they were excluded from the process and in 2014 the King William’s Town bingo licence was instead awarded to Galaxy Gaming Eastern Cape 2 and the Uitenhage licence to East Cape Gaming Uitenhage.

Both these companies had obtained the necessary special consent.

Pickering said in respect of both the Uitenhage and King William’s Town licences, the board had acted in an administratively fair manner and that its decision to disqualify Elite Bingo in both cases had been lawful, reasonable and rational. But Elite Bingo appealed against his judgment.

It argued that a bingo hall fell within the ambit of the definition of place of amusement and special consent was therefore not necessary as its premises had already been zoned accordingly.

But the Uitenhage municipal regulations define a “place of amusement” as any “building designed for use as a public hall, theatre, cinema, music hall, billiards saloon, sport arena, skating ring, or dance hall or for the purpose of exhibitions of trade or industry”.

Advocate Ben Ford SC, again argued in the appeal that people derived amusement from playing bingo and any sensible interpretation of the definition of “place of amusement” would include a bingo hall.

But, the full bench of the Grahamstown High Court rejected this.

Judge Mandela Makaula, with Judge Selby Mbenenge and Acting Judge Templeton Mageza agreeing, found Pickering had been correct in finding the zoning scheme predated the legalisation of gambling in the country and it could not therefore have catered for a building meant for gambling.

Bingo is defined in the Gambling Act as a gambling game – in which money may be won -- as opposed to an “amusement game” in which no monetary prizes can be won.

He found the board had therefore taken into account relevant considerations when disqualifying the bids. The full bench dismissed the appeal.