- The Supreme Court of Appeal has dismissed Gauteng’s bid to revive its gambling levy appeal.
- Gauteng previously warned it could owe more than R600 million if it lost the appeal.
- The judge found that repeated procedural failures were never properly explained.
The Gauteng provincial government now faces a possible payout of over R600 million after the Supreme Court of Appeal dismissed its application to revive an appeal in a long-running gambling levy dispute.
The Gauteng MEC for Economic Development, Environment, Agriculture and Rural Development, along with the Gauteng Gambling Board, brought the appeal after the High Court found that changes to gambling regulations were unlawful and ordered the province to repay betting levies.
The Supreme Court of Appeal said the appeal had lapsed because the province did not follow the court’s rules for filing the appeal record. When asking the court to reinstate the appeal, Gauteng authorities warned that refusing could have serious financial consequences for the province.
They told the court the province would not only owe more than R600 million, but would also lose out on future taxes and levies.
Judge W Hughes found that the explanation for the repeated delays and procedural failures fell far short of what was required.
Budget constraints rejected
Gauteng officials argued that financial constraints at the Gambling Board delayed preparation of the appeal record, as the board’s legal budget had run out while it waited for new funds. Judge Hughes did not accept this explanation.
The judgment noted that both the MEC and the Gambling Board were appellants, yet there was no proper explanation for why the MEC could not help with the appeal if the Board lacked funds.
Judge Hughes also pointed out that the funding problem had already been fixed by the end of February 2025, well before most of the later procedural failures. “The response is a resounding no,” Judge Hughes said when considering whether Gauteng had given an adequate explanation.
Judge Hughes described the information before the court as “porous and lacking,” making it impossible for the court to properly exercise its discretion.
Serious procedural failures
Judge Hughes found that Gauteng repeatedly failed to comply with agreements made with the respondents about the contents of the appeal record.
Even after being told that important documents, including part of the Rule 53 record, were missing, the appellants still filed an incomplete record.
The respondents repeatedly warned Gauteng about the missing documents before the deadline, but the problems were never fixed. “The appellants’ conduct clearly amounts to a flagrant breach” of the court’s rules, Judge Hughes said.
The judgment also found that filing the heads of argument late made the procedural failures worse.
Earlier ruling remains in place
The dispute centres on 2019 amendments to Regulation 276 of Gauteng’s gambling rules, which took away a financial benefit previously enjoyed by the holder of Gauteng’s totalisator licence.
The High Court set aside those amendments and ordered that gambling levies be repaid under the old rules. The order requires levies to be paid to Phumelela Gaming and Leisure Limited for 1 April 2019 to 30 November 2021, and to 4Racing (Pty) Ltd for 1 December 2021 to 30 May 2024, plus interest. The judgment does not specify the exact amount.
Because the Supreme Court of Appeal dismissed the application to reinstate the appeal, it did not consider the substance of the case itself. “There is absolutely no satisfactory or acceptable explanation for these flagrant breaches of the rules,” Judge Hughes concluded.
The court dismissed the application for condonation and reinstatement with costs, including the costs of two counsel where used, and struck the appeal from the roll.
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