The South African Bookmakers Association (SABA) has called for legislative changes to strengthen enforcement against illegal offshore gambling, as the National Gambling Board (NGB) moves ahead with plans to block unlawful websites.
The dispute has widened after the Internet Service Providers’ Association raised concerns over the legal and technical basis for blocking measures. SABA said it accepts that any intervention must be supported by legislation, regulatory oversight and constitutional safeguards, but argued that South Africa’s current framework leaves regulators with limited practical tools.
South Africa’s National Gambling Act makes unlicensed gambling unlawful, with liability extending to operators and, under Section 11, gamblers who participate in illegal online gambling. Legal commentary has also noted that online casino-style gambling remains prohibited unless expressly authorized.
SABA said research it commissioned from Yield Sec estimated that illegal operators account for around 62% of South Africa’s online gambling activity, with more than R50bn ($3.1bn) in annual gross gambling revenue leaving the country. It also estimated that 16 million South Africans used illegal platforms in the past year.
SABA CEO, Sean Coleman, said: “We fully support the NGB’s heightened enforcement actions that include a technological component, High Court forfeiture operations and the coordinated legislative push to eradicate these illicit networks.”
The association has proposed amendments to the National Gambling Act and Electronic Communications Act, alongside payment blocking, advertising restrictions and penalties for local affiliates or intermediaries that knowingly support illegal operators.
SABA pointed to Australia’s model, where ACMA has used website blocking since 2019 as part of a broader enforcement strategy. ACMA’s latest reported figures show 1,751 illegal gambling and affiliate websites blocked, while more than 230 unlicensed services have exited the Australian market since enforcement changes began in 2017.
The NGB has already escalated public warnings in South Africa. In May, Global Gaming Insider reported that the regulator used Section 16 of the National Gambling Act to apply to the High Court for the seizure of unlawful gambling winnings, with R3.1m forfeited between April 2025 and April 2026.
The NGB launched a Verified Gambling Operators portal in 2026 to centralize information on licensed operators in South Africa
