South African officials have made it clear that the country will not be expanding its online gambling laws beyond sports betting, but at least that aspect of online gaming seems to be growing.
The country recently added ClickaBet to its list of approved online sports betting operators. Which was licensed by the Western Cape Gambling and Racing Board. That brings the total approved sports betting platforms to four along with ClickaBet, BET.co.za, SportingBet and Sunbet.
Ladbrokes had been accepting bets in South Africa, but withdrew after 2 years citing the country’s attitude towards online gaming.
A recent attempt to open up South Africa to online poker and casino games was not successful and the country’s Department of Trade and Industry recently released the final version of its National Gambling Policy 2016. The policy paper states that “no new forms of gambling will be allowed at this point.”
The policy paper also repeats the government’s previous position that “the capacity to regulate online gambling currently is not adequate, but can be streamlined to prevent illegal operations.” The government has also proposed that any unauthorized online winnings be seized and placed in a special trust fund.
Despite these moves, a recent report by consulting firm PwC said it expects gross sports betting revenue to expand at a 7.7 percent compound annual rate, to an estimated R5 billion in 2019 from R3.5 billion in 2014.
