Casino Enterprises said gamblers should not be forbidden from gambling at its online casino. The ruling will see the Gauteng Gambling Board gun for international online casino operators and their customers. As Casino Enterprises also hauled the National Gambling Board to court, the ruling now applies to everyone in the country who gambles online.

The Reserve Bank will now be expected to instruct banks not to authorise credit-card transactions related to online gambling anywhere in the country. The ruling prohibits adverts for online gambling sites on TV, radio, billboards and newspapers. "Part of the reason we have been fighting online operators is because we cannot guarantee that a gambler will win. If they do, we cannot guarantee that they will be paid their winnings."

Anti-gambling organisations have welcomed the ruling, which they said would put the brakes on teenage gambling addicts who use their cellphones and parents' credit cards to flutter online. Professor Peter Collins, the National Responsible Gambling Programme's executive director, said online gambling was a growing problem, which earned the industry an estimated R500-million a year.

The new prepaid card works like other prepaid options with the additional bonus that it lets the punter withdraw funds to MasterCard. This eliminates having to wait for a cheque or wire transfer. Players load up their card using their personal bank account and start to play. When withdrawing funds, they can transfer the money directly back onto their prepaid card, after which they can use the card at any retail outlet that accepts MasterCard.

The new card works like uKash and other prepaid cards, only with the additional option that allows you to withdraw money to your MasterCard – rather than having to wait for a cheque or wire transfer. Players can simply load up their card using their bank account. When withdrawing funds, they can transfer the funds directly back onto their prepaid card, after which they can use the card at any retail outlet that accepts MasterCard.

Collins said that internet gambling was a growing problem among addicts. "We have dealt with people who go to the casino to gamble, and then after hours, they go home to continue gambling online," he said. Warren Whitfield, Addiction Action Campaign CEO, congratulated the Gauteng Gambling Board, saying: "The problem is that you never know who is on the other side of the line. Gamblers use their wives' credit cards to gamble."

Peter McKenzie, managing director of Oracle Airtime Sales, which handles advertising for M-Net and Multichoice, said he would comment once he had received a notice from the board. SABC spokesman Kaizer Kganyago said the state broadcaster had not yet received notice to pull online gambling advertising from their channels.