In recent years, the global gambling and gaming industry has undergone tectonic shifts. Freed from the confines of land-based casinos, wagering has migrated en masse to mobile screens, propelled by smartphone proliferation, digital payments and often-light regulatory footprints. Emerging markets in Africa and elsewhere have become key battlegrounds for operators seeking scale, as traditional markets mature or tighten oversight.
Against this backdrop, South Africa stands out. Its online gambling industry has soared, not incrementally but in a leap that signals structural change. In the 2023-24 financial year, the country recorded a turnover of R1.14 trillion, representing an increase of approximately 550 % over four years and amounting to nearly 17 % of GDP as reported.
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This phenomenal growth places South Africa at an inflexion point: the industry has become not just a part of the economy but a significant structural actor.
The official figures presented by the National Gambling Board (NGB) show that the 2024-25 financial year saw total gambling turnover hit R1.5 trillion, up from about R1.1 trillion in the prior year.
Gross gambling revenue (GGR), that is, the margin retained by operators, rose from roughly R59.3 billion to R75 billion in the same period. Betting (including online betting) accounted for about 70 % of that GGR, with casinos contributing approximately R16.6 billion (22 %). Further data indicate that the online segment alone accounts for around 60 % of gross gambling revenue.
On the employment and fiscal side, the gambling sector supports roughly 33,169 direct jobs and more than 144,000 indirect jobs, and generated taxes and levies of about R5.8 billion in 2024-25. These numbers convey a rapid acceleration that far outpaces many other sectors. They are symptomatic of a wider digital-economy paradigm shift where risk, reward and regulation converge.
Mobile, Marketing, Margins
Behind this upward trajectory are several converging forces. First, mobile connectivity and smartphone access have exploded. Although precise local figures vary, the digital environment is primed for online wagering. A significant portion of the rise is tied to mobile-based platforms, which allow betting on the go, at any hour, from any device.
Second, marketing and sponsorship have become pervasive. Betting firms in South Africa have embedded themselves deeply into sport and youth culture, title sponsorships of major leagues, digital influencer campaigns and aggressive app-driven promotions.
Third, the profit margins of online gambling are high relative to many other sectors, reinforcing the economic appeal for operators and investors alike. Combined, these forces have created what some in the industry describe as a “structural break” around 2021-22 when digital wagering began to outpace land-based activity.
At the Edge of the Precipice
Yet the spectacle of growth masks deep and troubling fault-lines. At the societal level, participation rates have soared: adult gambling prevalence in South Africa rose to about 65.7 % in the 2024-25 period. Equally alarming, problem gambling is estimated at 31 % of participants in that same period.
Wider household impacts show that gambling accounts for about 1.6 % of total household expenditure, ranking twelfth in the Consumer Price Index basket, and just behind beer in that ranking. Within recreation, sport and culture spending (which holds a 2.86 % weight in the CPI), gambling constitutes just over half of that spending.
The human cost emerges in case studies of individuals, taxi drivers, pensioners, and unemployed workers who report using online wagering as a financial escape, but often encounter mounting losses and addiction.
On the regulatory front, South Africa’s legal framework is widely regarded as outdated and fragmented. Online gambling legislation originates in the 2004 Act and the still-unimplemented 2008 Amendment; provinces and national bodies share overlapping jurisdictions, while offshore operators exploit loopholes.
In Parliament, the boom has triggered alarm. MPs have described the surge in gambling expenditure as “a national public-health crisis.”
Offshore and illegal online operations add to the challenge. The NGB and law enforcement agencies have flagged dozens of unlicensed platforms active in South Africa, operating from jurisdictions with opaque licensing regimes.
Economically, while turnover is monumental, the state’s tax take remains modest in proportion. R5.8 billion in taxes against R1.5 trillion in turnover presents a tax-to-turnover ratio of under 0.4 %. In sum, stacked on top of regulatory lag, social strain and economic extraction, the industry’s rapid ascent presents more of a time-bomb than a benevolent jackpot.
What It Means for Africa and the Policy Response
From a continental vantage, South Africa’s case sends important signals. As digital infrastructure improves across Africa, mobile betting platforms are proliferating and jurisdictions are mixing liberalisation with weak enforcement. The African continent, with large youth populations, rising smartphone penetration and constrained formal employment, presents a fertile ground for gambling expansion.
Yet the risks are also magnified: limited social safety nets, high levels of poverty and inequality mean that behavioural addiction and financial distress linked to gambling are more urgent issues. Policy responses must therefore balance growth in the digital economy with protection of vulnerable groups and the preservation of financial inclusion and human security.
In the South African context, reform options include tighter regulation of advertising and sponsorship, stronger consumer protection for online users, mandatory self-exclusion mechanisms and higher taxation of operators to better reflect societal costs. The development of a harmonised online-gambling law (rather than piecemeal provincial oversight) is central.
Given the enormous scale of the sector in South Africa, reforms adopted here may serve as a model for other African countries wrestling with similar digital gambling booms. Leadership, both in government and civil society, will be required to steer regulation, protect the youth and ensure that the technological advantages of the digital economy do not become new avenues of extraction or harm.
Final Wagers
South Africa’s online gambling industry exemplifies both the promise and peril of digital disruption in emerging markets. On one hand, it offers jobs, innovation and integration into the mobile digital economy. On the other hand, the growth has outpaced regulation, exposed vulnerable citizens to risk and created a large sector with limited fiscal return and substantial social costs.
If left unchecked, the rapid expansion of wagering may undermine rather than support development outcomes: eroding household welfare, diverting youth effort from productive opportunities and burdening public institutions with treatment of addiction and financial distress. But if confronted wisely, the sector could be regulated to deliver more inclusive economic value, link to responsible-gaming frameworks and ensure that technological advance serves society rather than preys on it.
In this way, the R1.5 trillion figure should not be celebrated uncritically. It is a milestone that demands scrutiny, policy engagement and moral reflection. Whether it remains a jackpot for society or becomes a time-bomb depends on leadership, regulation and the willingness to calibrate growth with public interest.
