Representatives of South Africa's rapidly growing casino sector have signed the country's first-ever national gambling industry code of conduct, making it one of the first globally to do so outside the US.

South Africa's listed gaming groups include Sun International (SUI), Gold Reef Casino Resorts (GDF), and Peermont Global (PTG), amongst others.

Announcing the conclusion of the code of conduct in Cape Town on Sunday, Casino Association (Casa) chairman Peter Bacon said that it would bind all casinos in South Africa to "demanding protocols" designed to promote a culture of responsible gambling in the country.

"Casa's members are employers, property owners and taxpayers and place the highest priority on the obligations of corporate citizenship and social responsibility," said Bacon. "This code of conduct is a social contract with the people of South Africa and it binds our members to a number of far-reaching measures that underpin our already-stringent responsible gambling policies."

Casa represents South Africa's licensed casino industry. In just eight years, the new industry has been responsible for more than 12 billion rand in new investment in all nine provinces, adding more than 36 billion rand to GDP in terms of economic multipliers.

Casa statistics show the industry has created almost 100,000 direct and indirect jobs, and in 2003-2004 alone contributed nearly 2.7 billion rand to government revenue. In addition, the casino industry has substantially advanced transformation in the tourism and leisure sector.

Casa CEO Derek Auret said that the new code had its genesis in the commitment of Casa members to the social goals and obligations which were implicit in the casino industry's public accountability in respect of its licenses to trade.

"This comprehensive code covers issues as various as advertising standards, measures to prevent under-age gambling, policies on the sale of alcohol, and funding for and co-operation with the National Responsible Gambling Programme (NRGP), among others," Auret noted. "It unambiguously defines our adherence as an industry to appropriately high standards of conduct and social probity."

"Moreover, it compliments our other social commitments in respect of corporate social investment, transformation and human resource development. This past year, for example, our members invested over 87 million rand in corporate social investment (CSI) spending, and we contribute some six million rand annually to the promotion of responsible gambling through public education, free medical treatment for problem gamblers, and research into the incidence of problem gambling and ways to deal with this phenomenon."

"In terms of transformation, 60% of voting control in our sector on average is now in empowerment hands, and an effective 38% economic interest. This substantially exceeds other comparable industries."

Gambling industry analyst and academic, Professor Peter Collins, executive director of the National Centre for the Study of Gambling at UCT, and director of the Centre for the Study of Gambling and Commercial Gaming at Salford University in Manchester, said that the new code would further enhance the international credibility of South Africa's casino industry and its policy framework.

"South Africa has been at the forefront of new thinking in the global gambling industry on key social issues such as problem gambling, for both regulators and industry in this country recognise that the sustainability of good public policy, and equally the industry's commercial prospects, depend on being trusted to meet society's expectations," said Collins.