The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition wants an updated National Gambling Bill in front of Cabinet this year. (Image created by GenAI) The National Gambling Amendment Bill – in the works since 2018 – is before Parliament to be finalised as the industry calls for urgent action rather than more talk about blocking illegal…
ISPA argues that blocking IP addresses is technically challenging. (Graphic: Nicola Mawson | Magnific) Trade, industry and competition minister Parks Tau is reviving an eight-year-old Bill to strengthen the National Gambling Board (NGB). However, the Internet Service Providers’ Association (ISPA) is pushing back against a provision that would allow the state to block access to…
South Africa’s internet industry has pushed back against a government agency’s plan to have illegal offshore gambling sites blocked, warning that website blocking is technically leaky, prone to collateral damage and constitutionally fraught unless it is anchored in law and ordered by a court. The Internet Service Providers’ Association (Ispa) set out its objections in…
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…
MTN South Africa CEO Ferdi Moolman Online gambling has emerged as a surprising drag on MTN South Africa’s prepaid business, with the parent group citing the surge in betting activity as a key reason its local mobile arm is struggling to grow. In its 2025 integrated report, published on Wednesday, MTN said muted prepaid growth…
The National Gambling Board’s gambling portal must stay updated to be effective. (Graphic: Nicola Mawson | ITWeb and Freepik) While the National Gambling Board’s (NGB’s) introduction of a portal that will allow punters to verify the legal status of online gambling sites is a welcome move, the industry also cautions that the database must be…
Licensed South African bookmakers have called on banks and payment providers to block transactions to “illegal” offshore gambling platforms, which they claim now account for nearly two-thirds of all online betting activity in the country. The South African Bookmakers Association (Saba) has said in a new report it commissioned from global gaming research firm YieldSec…
As a boom in online gambling across Africa gathers pace, governments are hiking taxes to contain addiction risks and fill depleted state coffers. In by far the biggest market, South Africa, the industry is pushing back. Once a niche activity, gambling has exploded across the continent as a result of easily available online betting accounts….
The Free Market Foundation (FMF) is demanding that a national 20% tax for online gambling proposed by the national treasury be withdrawn and reconsidered within South Africa’s existing decentralised regulatory regime. It said the proposed tax will undermine provincial authority and overburden legal gambling operators, and risks driving consumers further towards unregulated offshore platforms, which…
In a bid to stop students from spending their loans on online gambling, the National Gambling Board and the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (Nsfas) are working on targeted interventions to tackle the scourge. This follows the release of a study by the South African Responsible Gambling Foundation last year that found that nearly 45%…
