During June and July, South Africa was more than happy to let the world bet as much money as they wanted. They were hosting a little tournament called the World Cup, which just so happens to be not only the most popular sport tournament in the world but also the most bet-on event in the world. During the World Cup, it’s impossible to estimate how much money was bet worldwide, but it is believed to be an amount even greater than the cost of an Obama family vacation.

Now that the World Cup is a thing of the past, the South African government wants to push gambling out of the spotlight and into the dark corner. The government wants to place new limits on advertising for gambling. The Department of Trade and Industry is revising the National Gambling Act to include restrictions on advertising that only allows television ads for gambling to be shown during the evening.

Similar restrictions exist in many countries. The thinking is that by only allowing the advertisements in the evening, you limit the exposure to underage citizens, since children – the thinking goes, don’t watch TV at night.

The problem is that children do watch TV at night, though generally not as late as adults. That is why many countries only allow such ads to be shown late at night, such as midnight or later. The United States has done that with ads for liquor ever since allowing liquor commercials, though they allow commercials for beer during all times of day. It is unknown at this time whether the new regulations only allowing evening gambling ads will allow those ads at any time in the evening or only late at night.

Generally speaking, governments tend to work very slowly. This is mostly because they are very inefficient machines that have more impediments toward getting things done than stuff put in place to help getting things done. Bureaucratic red tape clogs the works and keeps things moving at a snail’s pace. For just two examples in the United States, look at the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), which was passed in 2006 yet won’t take effect until June of this year at the earliest, and Obama’s healthcare reform act, which is now passed yet the supposed “benefits” won’t kick in until at least 2014.

It’s not just the U.S. government that represents the model of inefficiency, though. Pretty much every government is like that. Right now that inefficiency and inability to get things done in a timely manner is really hurting the government of South Africa.

In 2008, the country legalized online gambling and passed legislation that would regulate and tax the industry. The new law allows for up to ten online casino operators to set up in South Africa and begin serving their citizens. Those casinos must be approved for a license by the Minister of Trade and Industry, Rob Davies. So far, for reasons unknown to me, he has yet to give the okay to a single online casino.

As a result of the political foot-dragging, ineptitude, or whatever is going on, black market online casinos have sprung up and become major players in the industry. The people of South Africa are now getting their online gambling, but the government isn’t getting the tax money. Not only that, but there is no government agency assuring the fairness of those casinos.

Last week, government officials met for the national Gambling Review Commission (no, we’re not a sponsor; they just used our name). In that meeting, advisors, some of whom pushed for the Interactive Gambling Act in 2008, described the illegal gambling activity going on in the country and its affect on the nation.

This is yet another example showing that the government can’t ever effectively deprive the people of something they want. If they want to gamble, they will find a way to do so. That is why the South African government passed the Interactive Gambling Act two years ago. However, because they have yet to license any online casinos, the black market has jumped in and supplied the goods demanded by the people. Now the government has two problems, because they still need to get around to approving and adequately taxing and regulating the online gambling in the country, but now they also have competition from illegal sites.