The South African Bookmakers Association (SABA) is calling for urgent action to block illegal offshore gambling websites.
This follows the recent position adopted by the Internet Service Providers’ Association (ISPA) regarding proposals by the National Gambling Board to block illegal offshore gambling websites.
While SABA agrees that technical interventions must be supported by clear legislation, appropriate regulatory oversight and constitutional safeguards, it says that the debate should no longer centre on whether illegal offshore gambling can be addressed, but how quickly South Africa is prepared to act.
SABA has been engaging with the National Gambling Board (NGB), policymakers and other stakeholders to develop a practical, evidence-based strategy to combat the rapid growth of the illegal offshore gambling market. Those engagements have included detailed presentations, legislative gap analyses, international benchmarking and public awareness initiatives aimed at educating consumers about the risks posed by illegal operators.
The association notes that South Africa does not suffer from a lack of laws prohibiting illegal online gambling. It suffers from a lack of laws that enable effective enforcement.
SABA welcomes the NGB’s recent move to appoint a service provider to block illegal online gambling websites and its ongoing commitment to stamp out unregulated sites.
Sean Coleman, CEO of SABA, says: “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. By declaring war on illegal, unregulated platforms, particularly ahead of or during high-volume sporting periods like the 2026 World Cup. In doing so, the NGB is taking an essential step toward safeguarding vulnerable citizens and protecting the integrity of the domestic economy.”
SABA says illegal offshore operators continue to target South African consumers with little fear of meaningful regulatory intervention. In November 2024, the association commissioned a data-driven report from Yield Sec. The report indicated that illegal operators accounted for approximately 62% of all online gambling activity in South Africa, diverting more than R50-billion in gross gambling revenue offshore annually. An estimated 16-million South Africans have engaged with these platforms in the past year, which operate outside South African licensing requirements, contribute nothing to the local fiscus, undermine licensed operators that comply with stringent regulatory obligations and offer consumers little or no protection when disputes arise.
SABA’s discussions with the National Gambling Board have focused on a broad enforcement ecosystem rather than any single intervention, with a legislative gap analysis identified several areas where South African law should be strengthened.
Firstly, SABA believes the National Gambling Act should be amended to provide explicit legal certainty regarding illegal offshore gambling, clearly defining operators who unlawfully target South African consumers while strengthening enforcement powers and clarifying the extraterritorial application of the law.
It adds that the Electronic Communications Act should be amended to establish a transparent statutory framework through which authorised regulators can issue website blocking directives against illegal gambling operators. Such a framework should include judicial oversight, transparent processes and a publicly available register of unlawful operators to ensure accountability.
Financial disruption should become a central enforcement mechanism, the association believes. International experience consistently demonstrates that restricting payment channels is one of the most effective ways of dismantling illegal gambling businesses. South Africa already possesses much of the legislative infrastructure required through the Financial Intelligence Centre Act, together with the regulatory oversight of the South African Reserve Bank. What is required is the coordinated application of those powers to prevent banks, payment service providers and, where appropriate, cryptocurrency exchanges from facilitating transactions with known illegal operators.
At the same time, it says legislation should be strengthened to impose meaningful consequences on those who knowingly facilitate illegal gambling within South Africa, including local affiliates, marketing intermediaries and payment facilitators. Offshore operators should not be the only entities exposed to enforcement action where domestic participants knowingly contribute to unlawful activity.
Greater attention should be given to disrupting the advertising ecosystem that drives illegal gambling, SABA says. Existing legislation can be strengthened to prevent the promotion of illegal gambling through affiliate networks, influencers, digital advertising platforms and other online marketing channels that continue to direct South African consumers towards unlawful operators.
It concludes that South Africa requires a coordinated national enforcement capability equipped with digital monitoring expertise, investigative powers and financial intelligence capabilities. Fragmented regulatory responsibilities have limited the effectiveness of current enforcement efforts. A centralised enforcement model would significantly improve intelligence sharing, operational coordination and regulatory responsiveness.
SABA does not advocate website blocking as a silver bullet. International evidence clearly demonstrates that sustainable success is achieved through multiple complementary interventions including website blocking, payment disruption, advertising restrictions, consumer education, intelligence-led investigations and international regulatory cooperation.