ZA Gambling Laws - What's Legal and What's Not?

Overview

The South African market has come a long way before it successful established itself as one of the fastest growing gambling markets. Whilst it only managed to hit the R17 billion in gross gambling revenues back in 2001, 60,000 people managed to land a job in the industry.

Fast-forward a couple of years, things have never been better. Especially since gambling operators have fully adhered to the National Gambling Board (NGB), experts predict that should the market maintain its momentum, it’s expected to hit the R34.8 billion mark by the end of this year.

Gambling Legislation: The Good News and the Bad News

So, let’s get down what’s legal and what’s not. As stated in the previous section, the gambling market is licensed and regulated by the National Gambling Board. Additionally, it is also operated by nine provincial boards. In this way, lawmakers ensure that the market is well-regulated at all times.

Whilst most experiences are positive, the South African market still has its fair share of blacklisted casinos. And online gambling is still illegal at the time of writing. In fact, South African gambling authorities have since imposed stricter regulations.

At the moment, South African players can only wager bets through licensed bookmakers on online horse racing and sport events. Should you be caught participating in any other form of gambling, your winnings are revoked, and you can face criminal charges.

That said, South African players can still enjoy a number of options. In fact, they can participate in several forms of gambling including land-based casino games, horse racing, sports betting and limited payout machines. As far as online gambling goes, some offshore sites have been given licenses to allow players to accept ZA residents, and are thus leading to a significant increase in the South African online gambling industry.