Zimbabwe
Lotteries and Gaming Act
Chapter 10:26
- Commenced on 1 October 2000
- [This is the version of this document at 31 December 2016 and includes any amendments published up to 31 December 2017.]
- [Note: This version of the Act was revised and consolidated by the Law Development Commission of Zimbabwe]
Part I – Preliminary
1. Short title and date of commencement
This Act may be cited as the Lotteries and Gaming Act [Chapter 10:26].2. Interpretation
In this Act—“Board” means the Lotteries and Gaming Board constituted in terms of section three;“casino” means premises upon which gaming is conducted in accordance with this Act;“casino area” means the area specified in terms of subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (d) of subsection (1) of section thirty-three;“casino licence” includes a temporary casino licence referred to in subsection (4) of section thirty-eight;“committee” means a committee of the Board;“Fund” means the Lotteries and Gaming Fund established by section fifty-three;“game” means any game, irrespective of whether or not its result is determined by chance, played with playing-cards, dice or a gaming device for money, property, credit or anything of value, other than an opportunity to play a further game, and includes, without derogating from the foregoing, roulette, bingo, twenty-one, black-jack, chemin de fer, baccarat and computerised racing;“gaming device” means any equipment or mechanical, electro-mechanical or electronic device, component or machine which is used, directly or indirectly, for the purposes of a game and which brings about the result of a wager by determining win or loss;“levy” means a levy imposed in terms of section fifty;“licence” means a licence issued under this Act;“licensed premises” means premises in respect of which a licence is in force;“liquor” has the meaning assigned to it by the Liquor Act [Chapter 14:14];“lottery”—(a)means a lottery in the generally accepted meaning of the word and, more particularly, a scheme, arrangement, system or device by which any prize is or may be won, drawn, or competed for by lot, dice or any other method of chance, either with or without reference to the happening of an uncertain event other than the result of the application or use of such lot, dice or other method of chance; and(b)without derogation from paragraph (a), includes—(i)the schemes or arrangements known as lotto and scratch-card; and(ii)any other scheme, arrangement, system or device which the Minister may declare, by statutory instrument, to be a lottery;“lottery licence” means a licence authorising the conduct of a lottery;“member” means the chairman or any other member of the Board;“Minister” means the Minister of Home Affairs or any other Minister to whom the President may, from time to time, assign the administration of this Act:Provided that the President may assign different provisions of this Part to different Ministers;“operate”, in relation to a gaming device, means to manage or control the device or to use it otherwise than simply as a player of a game;“place” includes any place, whether public or private, and any vessel, aircraft or vehicle and any part thereof; “prize” means any movable or immovable property, whether corporeal or incorporeal;“ticket” means any symbol, sign, token, coupon, warrant or list or any other means or device purporting or intended to confer upon or to recognise in any person the right to compete for or receive a prize or to have any interest in a lottery.Part II – Lotteries and Gaming Board
3. Establishment of Lotteries and Gaming Board
There is hereby established a Board to be known as the Lotteries and Gaming Board, which shall be a body corporate capable of suing and being sued in its corporate name and, subject to this Act, of doing anything that a body corporate may do by law.4. Functions of Board
The functions of the Board shall be—5. Constitution of Board
6. Disqualifications for appointment to Board
7. Terms of office and conditions of service of members
8. Members to disclose business interests and assets
9. Vacation of office by member
10. Suspension of member
The Minister—11. Dismissal of Board
12. Filling of vacancies on Board
13. Meetings and procedure of Board
14. Secretary and staff of Board
15. Committees of Board
16. Members of Board or committees to disclose certain connections and interests
17. Minutes of proceedings of Board and of committees
18. Remuneration and allowances of members of Board or committees
Members of the Board and members of any committee shall be paid from the Fund—19. Policy directions to Board
20. Reports of Board
21. Validity of decisions and acts of Board and committees
No decision made or act done by or under the authority of the Board or a committee shall be invalid solely because there were one or more vacancies on the Board or the committee concerned or because a disqualified person purported to act as a member of the Board or the committee concerned, as the case may be, when the decision was taken or the act was done or authorized, as the case may be.Part III – Financial provisions relating to Board
22. Grants to Board from Fund
At the beginning of each financial year of the Board, the Minister responsible for finance, after consultation with the Minister, shall cause the Board to be paid sufficient moneys from the Fund to meet the expenditure which the Board proposes to incur during that financial year.23. Funds of Board
The funds of the Board shall consist of—24. Investment of moneys not immediately required by Board
Moneys not immediately required by the Board may be invested in such manner as the Minister, acting on the advice of the Minister responsible for finance, may approve.25. Financial year of Board
The Board’s financial year shall be the period of twelve months ending on the 31st December in each year.26. Accounts of Board
27. Audit of Board’s accounts
28. Powers of auditors
29. Internal auditor
Section 19 of the Public Finance Management Act [Chapter 22:19] (No. 11 of 2009) shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to the appointment of an internal auditor to the Board in all respects as if the Board were a department of the Ministry for which the Minister is responsible.[subsection amended by Act 3 of 2016]Part IV – Regulation and licensing of lotteries and gaming
30. Prohibition against conduct of unlicensed lottery
31. Prohibition against unlicensed gaming activities
32. Application for and issue or refusal of licence
33. Form and period of validity of licence
34. Terms and conditions of licence
35. Renewal of licence
36. Transfer or amendment of licence
37. Suspension or cancellation of licence
38. Special provisions relating to casino licences
Part V – Conduct of lotteries by or on behalf of State
39. Interpretation in Part V
In this Part—“authorised person” means a person who has been authorised in terms of paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section forty to promote and conduct a State lottery;“Director” means the Director of State Lotteries appointed in terms of section forty-six;“State lottery” means a lottery promoted and conducted in terms of this Part;“State Lotteries Account” means the account created in terms of subsection (1) of section forty-three;“subscribe” means to pay over money for the right to compete for a prize in a State lottery;“ticket” means a certificate or card given to a person subscribing to a State lottery;“ticket seller” means a person authorised in terms of this Part to sell tickets.40. Power of Minister to conduct or authorise the conduct of State lotteries
41. Promotion and conduct of State lotteries
42. Minors not to be sold tickets nor entitled to prizes
No ticket seller shall sell a ticket to a person apparently under the age of eighteen years, nor shall any person under that age be entitled to recover any prize in a State lottery.43. State Lotteries Account
44. Payment of prizes
45. Proportion of proceeds of State lotteries to be used for charity or sport
46. Director of State Lotteries and other officers
47. Minister may delegate powers
48. Non-liability of State and officers
The bona fide payment of any prize money to any person shall discharge the State, the Minister and any authorised person making the payment from all liability whatsoever in respect of any such payment, notwithstanding any forgery, fraud, mistake, negligence or delay which may have been committed or have occurred in connection therewith:Provided that nothing in this section shall be construed as exempting the State, the Minister or an authorised person from liability for damage or loss caused to any person through forgery, fraud, negligence or delay on the part of—49. Audit of State Lotteries Account
Part VI – Levies
50. Imposition of levies
51. Withdrawal, suspension or increase of levy
Without derogation from section 21 of the Interpretation Act [Chapter 1:01], the Minister responsible for finance, in consultation with the Minister and the Board, may by statutory instrument—52. Recovery of unpaid levy
A levy and any interest or surcharge connected therewith shall be a debt due to the Fund, and any amount of levy or of such interest or surcharge that is not paid, collected or remitted may be recovered by the Minister responsible for finance, in his capacity as trustee of the Fund, by proceedings in a court of competent jurisdiction.Part VII – Lotteries and Gaming Fund
53. Establishment and objects of Lotteries and Gaming Fund
54. Composition of Fund
The Fund shall consist of—55. Administration of Fund
56. Financial year of Fund
The financial year of the Fund shall be the period of twelve months ending on the 31st December each year.57. Books of account and audit of Fund
Part VIII – General
58. Powers of entry and inspection
59. Information to be kept confidential
60. Appeals
61. Cheating in game or lottery
Any person who, by fraud or a wilful breaking of the rules—62. Prohibition against gaming by minors
63. Validity of certain gaming contracts
A debt arising out of a lottery or game that is authorised by a licence shall be recoverable by proceedings in a court, notwithstanding the rule of the common law that gambling debts cannot be recovered.64. Recovery of subscriptions and prizes in illegal lottery
65. Regulations
History of this document
31 December 2016 this version
Consolidation
01 October 2000
Commenced