South Africa’s gambling industry is highly well-developed. South Africans wagered approximately $433 billion ZAR in 2019. That is a tremendous amount of gaming going on, demonstrating the widespread popularity of gambling in general.
The online casino gross turnover was $847.7 million ZAR, which isn’t a significant chunk of the overall gambling pie, but it’s still a solid and healthy figure. There is little doubt that online casino gaming is alive and well in South Africa, and that its popularity is expanding.
Please continue reading if you want to understand more about South African online gambling, including the various ZAR online casinos, legality, and rules and regulations. We also go through how to get started playing for money.
All of your favorite games may be played for real money. We look at slot machines, blackjack, roulette, baccarat, and a variety of other popular online casino games available to South Africans.
Important Factors to Consider When Playing Online
Approved operators can apply for commercial betting licenses. These are mostly land-based gambling establishments.
South African gamers are accepted by offshore online casino companies.
ISPs are allegedly designed to prevent South African gamblers from accessing online casinos.
Because online casino transactions are not permitted to be processed by South African banks, all player transactions will be processed using e wallets and other digital payment channels.
With more than a handful of sports bookmakers available, sports betting (horse betting) is the only clear cut legal product. It is illegal for sports book operators to conduct a sporting event on which they offer sports betting odds.
Legality of Online Gambling in South Africa
Gambling online in South Africa is governed by a patchwork of laws. The laws of South Africa, like those in the United States, can be rather perplexing. We do not claim to be legal experts, but we can provide you with a summary of our findings and interpretations.
In South Africa, horse betting, which is a type of sports betting, is obviously permitted. South Africans may safely and reliably place a sports bet within the country thanks to a number of sports betting bookies that have obtained the necessary sports betting licenses. This means that any type of payment mechanism, whether through banks or e-wallets, is acceptable.
Only horse racing and horse betting are technically lawful, while other types of gambling are prohibited.
Sports betting is still illegal. Despite the fact that it is illegal, many offshore sports betting firms accept South Africans and the ZAR as a currency.
Technically, online casino games like as slots, blackjack, roulette, and poker are also unlawful. Onshore online casino businesses remain out of bounds for South Africans, despite being considered for legalization in the past. The main purpose is to safeguard the existing land-based casino operators, who operate in almost all of South Africa’s provinces.
Onshore internet casino operators are definitely illegal, but offshore online casino companies are not. Because of this ambiguity, several offshore online casinos offer South African players in the ZAR currency. Payments for offshore internet casinos must be made through e-wallets or other digital payment options that do not go via South Africa’s big banks (There are some that accept credit card, but these a very few). This is because, with the exception of horse betting, the government has prohibited any bank in South Africa from processing any online gambling transaction.
Why are there so many South Africans playing if it’s illegal?
Following the legality question, and understanding that offshore online gambling is a hazy area, the subject of risks, penalties, and fines is frequently asked.
Let us begin by providing context in order to address this question. According to the introduction, online gambling is only worth hundreds of millions of dollars, although total wagering is worth hundreds of billions of dollars. Not to imply that this is trivial, but when compared to the cash earned by land-based casinos and horse and lottery sales, online casino gambling pales in comparison.
This is still at the bottom of the list of things to accomplish for law enforcement authorities in terms of priorities. With a high crime rate, which South Africans are more concerned about, policing infrastructure and community safety takes precedence over policing online casino gambling.
As a result, you will discover that no South African player has ever been charged with a crime for playing online casino games. Of course, this does not rule out the possibility. However, the danger is extremely low, as evidenced by the fact that South Africans use ZAR to play at online casinos.
It is unlawful to operate an illegal online casino onshore, and it is more likely to be prosecuted. You’ll end up in jail. This is because the operator, rather than the player, bears a greater share of the responsibility for breaking the law. As a result, you’ll notice that all online casino providers are located offshore rather than onshore.
Corruption at the National Gambling Board
The South African National Gambling Board was established to oversee and regulate gambling operators in the country. However, the Board was suspended and investigated in September 2014 for “strange financial transactions.” Attorneys for the lottery and other sports bookmakers filed a lawsuit, saying that sports betting licenses should only be given to horse betting bookmakers.
Sports betting licenses were canceled as a result of the legal action, with the exception of those who offered horse betting.
The Gambling Board was examined again in March 2015 for anomalies in expenditure surpassing R3.6 million.
The South African National Gambling Board was dismantled in the intervening years, and its jurisdiction and authority were transferred to another regulating body. However, in 2019, there will be talks.
Legislators met to discuss restoring the Gambling Board and repositioning it as the central gambling regulator.
Despite the fact that the gambling sector in South Africa is regulated, it is clear that corruption exists, resulting in a regulatory and compliance framework that is inadequate.
Online Casino Statistics in South Africa
H2 Gaming Capital, the foremost provider of gambling statistics, provided us with our data.
The amounts wagered in gross wins at offshore online gaming companies are listed in the table below. These figures are given in South African Rands per million, with 2020 as an estimate.
In the betting vs. casino, poker, and other areas, interesting trends are emerging. Betting (which include all types of sports betting) is on the rise.
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