Trade Minister Parks Tau has revealed that the National Gambling Policy Council (NGPC) is fast-tracking the development of a comprehensive new Bill designed to address escalating gambling challenges in South Africa, with a specific focus on the booming online gambling sector. Responding to parliamentary questions from RISE Mzansi MP Makashule Gana regarding the widespread prevalence of digital betting, Tau confirmed that the NGPC has established a specialized Gambling Technical Committee to overhaul existing frameworks.
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The Gambling Technical Committee has been mandated to harmonize the National Gambling Act with disparate provincial laws, establishing unified cohesion across national policy, legislation, and enforcement. According to Tau, the Department of Trade, Industry, and Competition (DTIC) has been reviewing the current Act since October 2025. This review will culminate in a foundational policy document intended to inform the drafting of the upcoming Bill, which is scheduled to be tabled before Cabinet later this year.
A major focus of the legislative push involves curbing the social impact of gambling addiction by targeting marketing practices. The National Gambling Board (NGB) is developing strict new advertising regulations in parallel with the Bill. This initiative follows extensive NGB surveillance of gambling advertisements across print, broadcast, outdoor, and digital media. The upcoming policy interventions will mandate that:
- Minor Protection: No gambling advertisements may be directed at or placed within media spaces where the majority of the audience is under 18 years old.
- Risk Awareness: All gambling advertisements must prominently feature responsible gambling warnings that clearly highlight the risk of addiction.
The legislative crackdown comes amid a long-standing dispute over what constitutes legal betting. Under Section 11 of the National Gambling Act, interactive games are strictly illegal unless explicitly authorized by national law. The NGB’s official position remains unequivocal: online sports betting through licensed bookmakers is the only legal form of interactive gambling in South Africa; traditional online casino games remain completely outlawed.
Despite this clarity, prominent betting operators, including Hollywoodbets, Betway, SportingBet, Sunbet, and SuperSportBet, have populated the local market with casino-style games. Operators exploit a legal loophole by arguing they are not offering interactive gambling, but are instead allowing users to place wagers on “betting contingencies” or game outcomes.
However, marketing campaigns have occasionally exposed this semantic defence. For instance, a prominent Hollywoodbets billboard along the R21 highway explicitly declared the brand as “SA’s biggest online casino.” When questioned on the messaging, Hollywoodbets avoided repeating the phrase, stating instead that the advertisement merely communicated the scale of its approved online products within the regulated betting market.
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The NGB has repeatedly demanded that provincial licensing authorities crack down on these digital platforms, but its directives have largely been disregarded by local regulators. The friction is primarily financial; the explosive growth of online betting has created an unprecedented tax windfall for provincial governments.
The NGB’s own annual report highlights this conflict of interest, revealing that total gambling taxes and levies collected rose by 20% in the 2024/25 financial year, surging from R4.84 billion to R5.81 billion. The provinces benefiting the most from this lucrative revenue stream include:
- Western Cape: Collected R1.74 billion
- Mpumalanga: Collected R1.47 billion
- Gauteng: Collected R1.16 billion
- KwaZulu-Natal: Collected R731 million
By formalizing a unified national policy, the fast-tracked Bill aims to bypass these provincial economic dependencies, establishing strict regulatory boundaries and robust enforcement strategies to curb unauthorized interactive gaming across the country.
