Last week the North Gauteng high court ruled that online gambling is now illegal in South Africa, however after that announcement Piggs Peak issued a statement that they will appeal the ruling and that all operations of the online casino will continue as normal.

Since yesterday however Piggs Peak has shut down all operations issuing the following statement

Saturday, 28 Aug 2010

As you are aware we lost our application in the Pretoria High Court regarding the legality of South Africans playing on our Swaziland licensed internet casino which has serious implications for South African players. We are in the process of applying for leave to appeal the judgement and felt that we could continue operating in the interim. We have since been advised that we should stop operating for South African players until the matter has been resolved.

In your interests we have taken a decision to stop operating from midnight Saturday August 28 until application for leave to appeal has been heard and decided upon, which we feel should take no longer than a week or two.  All remaining player balances, will be held safely at Piggs Peak Casino Swaziland. You can cash in any balance by e-mailing support@piggspeak.com and your request will be processed.

Yours Sincerely,

Lew Saul Koor
Operations Director
Piggs Peak Casino

At the time of publishing this post, the Piggs Peak online casino website has been shut down only displaying the notice above on the homepage. Silversands is however still operational.

Maybe this is really the end of online poker and gambling in South Africa, whats your thoughts? Will you be withdrawing your funds ASAP?

For long gambling boards in South Africa has been fighting against online gambling in South Africa, and it looks like the scales have finally tipped in their favor.

Business Day has reported that the North Gauteng High Court has ruled in favor of the Gauteng Gambling board making it now illegal to gamble online in South Africa.

The new ruling prohibits South Africans from participating in any online gambling activities where you could potentially win money from, including poker, and if you do not comply you could get yourself a R 10 million fine or a 10 year jail sentence.

The new ruling is sure to put allot of pressure on online gambling websites like Piggs Peak and Silver Sands operating in South Africa, and Piggs Peak has already responded saying that they will appeal this decision.

Piggs Peak’s Operations Director, Lew Saul Koor, sent an email to all members of the online gambling website notifying them that they will be appealing the judgement and until the appeal has been heard and the outcome determined, business will continue as usual as agreed with the Gambling Boards.

Do you gamble online? If so, will this new ruling change your online gambling behaviour?