Mr Chairman, our committee, especially our chairman, worked very hard. That we are meeting and debating the report at this time of the night is the way we worked all the time. I joined this committee at a time when they must have turbocharged it to get results. I think the Minister did some heavy breathing and the chairlady listened obediently!
We heard very well-informed and helpful presentations from all sectors. I was impressed with the talents and abilities of South Africans. The DTI staff members were most helpful. Our parliamentary committee staff members were efficient, and we benefited from the research and excellent report of the Gambling Review Commission.
I don't often quote Zwelinzima Vavi, but he once said that gambling was the poor subsidising the lucky. The view maintained by us is that gambling, like alcohol and nicotine, is not good for the nation's health. However, our dear citizens still want to practise these things. So, we need to regulate it and control it, rather than drive it underground. However, we must remind you that gambling at shebeens, card games, umlabalaba on street corners and fahfee remain illegal.
The chairlady of the portfolio committee mentioned the question of national and provincial responsibilities and the aspect of concurrence. The National Gambling Policy Council - at the level of MECs and the Minister - is where there can be liaison and co-ordination. It seldom meets and when it does, it does not quorate.
Animal racing also received our attention, bearing in mind that horse racing is well established and well managed and is part of gambling. Pigeon owners race their birds. In Australia and the United Kingdom, dog racing is well controlled and very popular. In South Africa, we do not yet recognise harness racing or bush racing, or what we sometimes call thebelela.
Among the fiercest defenders of property rights in South Africa are farmers and taxi owners. Often large numbers of dogs hunt across private farmland in KwaZulu-Natal and it is commonly known as "taxi hunting". This produces conflict. There are large stakes placed on the dog that will hunt down the buck. Legal dog racing will enable black people, in particular, to become active owners and operators in this industry and to race their dogs legally instead of illegally hunting with them. [Interjections.]
Harness racing and bush racing can also be legalised and regulated, which would enable authentic black involvement rather than fronting. We considered all the concerns from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. In any sport involving animals, it is vital that there is no cruelty and that animal health and safety is supervised by qualified people. [Time expired.]