Gambling in South Africa

In the late 1970s casinos started operating in the bantustans (the nominally independent areas called homelands) of Bophuthatswana, Ciskei, Transkei and Venda.

[4] In the same period the Board reported a total of 455 raids on and closures of presumed illegal gambling operations.

Due to its complexity and the difficulty of attracting new players it did not effectively compete with the newly introduced National Lottery and casino games.

[9] Betting on horse races is controlled by Saftote and operated by Gold Circle in KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape and by Phumelela in the remainder of the country.

Currently the Western Cape Gambling and Racing Board (WCGRB) is largest provider of online bookmaker licenses.

The Amendment Act was actively confronted by the interested parties (land-based gambling houses and anti-money laundering authorities).

On 20 August 2010 even online gambling offered through servers located outside the country was banned in South Africa.

This was the result of the North Gauteng High Court judgement on the jurisdiction of online gambling transactions in the country.

Casino sites, individuals, internet service providers and banks that process payments for online gamblers are subject to a fine of R 10 million or 10 years of imprisonment, or both.

[13] The South African Department of Trade and Industry also suggested to consider penny auctions a type of online gambling and illegalise them.