🇿🇦 South Africa Online Casinos

South Africa is quickly growing to become one of the world’s most active online casino playing destinations, and many predict this trend will increase tenfold in the years to come. As the country continues to invest heavily in the development of technological infrastructure, as well as more accessible and affordable internet access for its people, the results see many of its players migrating online to seek out a new level of casino entertainment.

Contemporary South African Gambling Not Fully Defined

Surprisingly South Africa does have quite a rich gambling history, one which spans as far back as the 1700s, it also happens to be a history that has witnessed a number of changes to both its land and online gambling activity. Due to this, it is no wonder many players are left confused and uncertain as to what the current status is on gambling within the country.

Gambling Laws in South Africa

The South African legal landscape has generally been a rather rugged territory up until recent decades, this of course in accordance with the country’s long-standing oppression under the Apartheid regime. Under the then government the freedom to enjoy games of luck and chance in any circumstance or setting was not only greatly unlawful but often unheard of.

From a historical perspective, it was only really until the 1965 South Africa Gambling Act that an actual formalised ban had been placed on pretty much all forms of gambling activities, the only exception on this piece of legislation was horse racing,solely due to the fact that it was deemed a sport rather than a form of sports betting.

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Strict Ban

Inevitably the 1965 Act was but a spark to the flame of casino playing enthusiasts as they saw the chance to find alternative ways of practicing their favourite pastime, and more importantly a chance to make some serious money. By the time the Apartheid regime was abolished in 1994 and the first democratic elections took place there were already an estimated 2000+ illegal gambling establishments across the country.

To introduce a more structured and governed condition to gambling in South Africa the new government passed the National Gambling Act of 1996.The act subsequently allowed for the operation of land-based casinos, as well as online sportsbooks given that they possessed the relevant operating licenses as provided by one of the 9 provincial gambling boards. It was also at this time that Lottery, bingo and similar gambling activities were also regulated, unfortunately, Interactive gaming, also known as online gambling, was still deemed illegal within the borders of South Africa.

With the formation of the National Gambling act of 1996 came with it an overarching governing body known as the National Gambling board. It was the board’s responsibility to ensure the governing of all gambling activity within South Africa, of which assistance and support on the provincial level would be provided by the 9 newly elected provincial boards.

Legal Online Gambling in South Africa

In terms of interactive gaming (online gambling), section 11 of the gambling act 2004 issued by the NGB still remains firm, it states that:

“A person must not engage in or make available an interactive game except as authorised in terms of this Act or any other national law”.

With that being said, there are a growing number of large scale offshore casinos accepting both South African players as well as South African Rands, this, of course, raises the question regarding potential legal loopholes allowing local players the opportunity to practice internet gambling without any repercussions.

The interpretation of the South African National Gambling Act and its subsequent changes contains two rather opposing statements. On the one hand, it claims that the only platforms which can provide online gambling services to the SA player pool are those online bookmakers licensed by the NGB.

The other…

…states that no service whatsoever should provide online gambling services to residents of South Africa.

With such contradictory statements, off-shore casino websites, sportsbooks, poker rooms and the likes have found that there is no explicit text in the South African legislation which prohibits players for playing such online games, nor implies punitive measures.

Thus, numerous reputable and globally renowned platforms with headquarters outside of the South African jurisdiction have become the ultimate solution for legal gambling activities by South African players.

The “by-way” of accessing and enjoying online gambling services had been invented, but the matters of reliability and trustworthiness still remained as key concerns. This was primarily due to the fact that such offshore platforms were licensed by foreign authorities.

Because of the nature of online gambling for South African players, we have created a number of key criteria to assist players in choosing the right operators for their gambling needs, these criteria include:

License to operate – While the licensing authority cannot be native, it is still advisable to choose a platform that bears a license to operate from any other jurisdiction. This is so due to the norms and standards imposed by said authorities in order to achieve some average level of service quality and hence player satisfaction.
Security protocol – SA players should also pay attention to their chosen casino platform’s security. Those using proper SSL encryption signal it next to the website address in the browser’s bar, as well as in corresponding pages (like ‘About US’) on the mobile or PC client.
Game providers – With the game provider variety reaching massive proportions, there are both leading industry giants with a reputable software offering and newer additions to the business looking to prove their reliability. This choice mainly depends on the players’ preference – widely available, reputable titles or more unique gameplay selection.

Banking Methods for South African Players

The importance of keeping funds and transactions safe throughout their entire gameplay experience has caused players to pay special attention to the Cashier page of their chosen casino platform. The optimal banking methods for South African casino players are those that allow them to process transactions in their home currency, the South African Rand (ZAR).

While it hasn’t been available for long, nowadays, there are multiple reputable platforms that have oriented towards this player pool and provide several types of methods that accept this currency:

Credit & debit cards

South Africa is becoming more and more appealing destination for online gambling content providers, which has, in turn, attracted a growing number of payment services. While the first platforms only saw two of these credit and debit card processors, SA players can currently deposit and withdraw funds using Visa, Maestro, MasterCard or even American Express.

E-wallets & e-money processors

There are many e-wallet and e-money transfer services available online which offer SA players a chance to transact with their currency, or deposit and exchange it into an accepted one. Nevertheless, it is important to note that the leading global e-wallets PayPal, Neteller and Skrill, as well as e-money services EcoPayz and PaySafeCard all provide this player pool with secure and appropriated payment processing services.

Bank transfers/ EFT payments

Bank transfers and EFT payment transactions allow players greater freedom in terms of the amount deposited and withdrawn. They may take a bit longer to process the payment request, but their long-standing, reliable and straightforward operations make it a good banking option for SA players at their specific gambling platforms.