Online betting South Africa

South African sports betting

Since the 17th century, gambling has been heavily restricted in the country of South Africa as it has been frowned upon by many. In recent years, restrictions have become less strict and natives in South Africa are becoming more keen on betting. South Africa’s Gambling Act of 1965 officially banned all forms of gambling except for horse racing.

Towards the end of the 1970s, multiple casinos began operating in the bantustans, independent areas called homelands. These bantustans in Bophuthatswana, Ciskei, Transkei, and Venda were where only native South Africans lived, which made it difficult, almost impossible for most citizens of the country to gain access to those gambling establishments.

Multiple gambling acts have passed and made provision for the regulation of gambling activities but they have been repealed and the latest one to pass was the National Gambling Amendment Act in 2008.

Looking at one of the most recent studies from 2006, the most popular forms of gambling in South Africa are the National Lottery (96.9% participation), slot machines (27.7% participation), scratchcards (22.7% participation), charity jackpot competitions (11.6% participation), and horse race betting (11.5% participation). These numbers could have changed over the last 13 years but one thing does remain the same, the National Lottery is the most popular form of gambling in South Africa.

In terms of revenue, in the 2006/2007 financial year, the gross gambling revenue as monitored by the National Gambling Board totaled R13.52 billion, up from R11.4 billion the previous year. In 10 years the gross gambling revenue sky-rocketed to R26.3 billion and to finish out 2019, the South African gambling revenue is projected to rise to R30 billion. All of this gross gambling revenue comes from casinos, sports betting, the National Lottery, limited payout machines, and bingo.

South African betting sites 2022


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Betting South Africa: safety and legislation

Sifting through the different types of gambling, the National Lottery was established in 2000 and has continued ever since, minus a brief suspension between April 2007 and October 2007. Casinos operate in all metropolitan areas in South Africa with the largest being the Rio Casino Resort, which also happens to be the largest casino in Africa and the fifth-largest in the entire world. Lastly is horse racing, one of the more popular sports to gamble on in the country.

Horse racing was the only legal form of gambling in South Africa until 1996 and due to the complexity and difficulty of attracting new players, it did not compete well with the National Lottery and casino games once they were introduced. Horse racing is one of the oldest forms of sports betting in the world and it has been declining due to the abundance of easy options that people have at their fingertips.

Looking at the abundance of options, one of them includes the world’s most-followed sport, soccer. This goes down as one of the most popular sports in the world and it translates to betting as well, especially in South Africa.

South African bettors payment options

In order to gamble online, the accepted payment methods in South Africa include a credit or debit card, a bank transfer, a virtual credit card, or through various forms of e-wallets, including Skrill, Neteller, and EcoPayz. To learn more about each payment, you can go to this website on gambling Africa.

South African gambling resources

Currently, the Western Cape Gambling and Racing Board ar the largest provider of online bookmaker licenses in the country. If you are looking to dive further into the South African gambling community, check out these links: