South Africa: Illegal Gambling on Sport
By Prof Dr Steve Cornelius, Sports Law Centre, University of Pretoria, South Africa
South African sport was recently rocked by the arrest of three former cricket players, Thamsanqa Tsolekile, Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Ethy Mbhalati and charged in the Pretoria Commercial Crimes Court under section 15 of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act 12 of 2004 (PreCCA).
In terms of section 15, the offence of corrupt activities relating to sporting events can be committed where a person is improperly induced to perform any act, which constitutes a threat to or undermines the integrity of any sporting event, including, in any way, influencing the run of play or the outcome of a sporting event.
These arrests are part of an ongoing investigation into attempted match fixing during the 2016 domestic T20 Ram Slam tournament. Investigations by the anti-corruption officer of Cricket South Africa revealed that former national team player, Gulam Bodi, had approached several other players to participate in a match fixing scheme, in collusion with bookmakers from India. The matter was reported to the South African Police Service, which assigned the matter to the Directorate of Priority Crime, colloquially known as “the Hawks”.
Bodi was arrested in 2018 and charged with various contraventions of section 15 of PreCCA. He was convicted and sentenced to five years’ imprisonment.
Jean Symes was arrested and charged in 2021. He was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment, which was in whole suspended for five years.
In 2022, Pumi Matshikwe was convicted and sentenced to six years’ imprisonment, suspended in whole for five years. The suspended sentences mean that the latter two players escaped imprisonment, provided that they did not commit any other crime involving dishonesty during the period of suspension.
The continuing investigation by the Hawks must be welcomed. Their involvement means that the authorities in South Africa view match fixing as a serious threat, not only to sport, but to society in general, as it goes hand in hand with illegal gambling and organised crime syndicates.
However, one has to question why it has taken eight years to reach a point where these players were, at last, brought to book. Certainly, one reason is that the conviction of Bodi, led to revelations which implicated Symes and Matshikwe. I would not be surprised if the suspension of their prison sentences was the result of a plea deal in terms of which they would reveal who else was involved and be prepared to act as State witnesses. If that was the case, the delay is understandable.
Whilst the action against the players is a clear step in the right direction in the fight against illegal gambling and match fixing, it remains a matter of concern that only players and referees have ever been charged under section 15 of PreCCA. Until now, no bookmaker or punter has ever been arrested for match fixing, nor has any request been sent to a foreign government for extradition of the masterminds behind the attempts to fix matches.
In contrast, the scandal, which saw Pakistani cricket players imprisoned in the United Kingdom, started with the conviction of the mastermind, Mazhar Ajeed, and the extradition and sentencing of the cricket players only followed after that. On a positive note, the current investigations in South Africa, resulted from an investigation by Cricket South Africa, which, in turn, was initiated after an anonymous call to its anti-corruption hotline. The British investigation, on the other hand, resulted from an investigation by reporters of the tabloid News of the World.
This means that the measures put in place by Cricket South Africa are working and I would not be surprised if more revelations come to light when the trials of the current trio of players commence. I sincerely hope that the investigations will eventually lead to the mastermind and that we would see someone charged and convicted with instigating the attempts to fix the matches.
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