South Africa

News & Analysis

News In Brief: February 20-February 24, 2023

Brazilian state launches first ever regulated sports-betting site, Hong Kong will extract an additional HK$12bn from the Hong Kong Jockey Club over five years and Missouri committee favours bill without VLTs.

Sports Betting Drives Growth In South Africa, Botswana, Malawi

The gambling industries of South Africa, Botswana and Malawi all saw sports betting become a key driver of growth and tax revenue amid impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, regulators say.

News In Brief: November 14-November 18, 2022

The UK Gambling Commission remains silent on white paper timeline, former Texas governor Rick Perry joins push for sports betting legalisation and a slots operator is fined in Australia.

South African Draft Remote Gambling Bill Aims To Fill Legal Gap

South Africa’s second largest political party is looking to introduce overarching online gambling regulations, following years of failed attempts to fully open up the sector.

News In Brief: June 6-June 10, 2022

Blackstone Group gets green light for Crown Resorts acquisition and the Massachusetts Gaming Commission says controversial Barry Diller is suitable for a gaming license.

Research & Reports

Special Report: Africa Gambling Outlook 2019

This special report takes a look in detail at the six African jurisdictions that are considered to be most relevant to the gambling industry: Ghana; Kenya; Nigeria; South Africa; Tanzania; and Uganda. The report discusses the degree of development of juridical systems, the maturity of the gambling markets and both the political and regulatory developments that occurred in the countries in the first half of 2019.

South Africa: Parliament Passes AML Reforms

On February 28, 2017 the South African parliament passed the Financial Intelligence Centre Bill, which is expected to amend the Financial Intelligence Centre Act 2001 and enhance the legal framework in the fight against money laundering.

The “proceedings on bills” report of March 3, 2017 indicates that the parliament passed the Financial Intelligence Centre A/B Bill (33D-2015), which is due to be submitted for presidential assent.

A brief note on South Africa’s current proposed reforms

South Africa has attempted numerous times to introduce a coherent online gambling framework in the country. However, to date, online gambling activities in South Africa remain unregulated and, therefore, are prohibited, with the exception of online sports and horse race betting, which are regulated at provincial level.

This brief note focuses on the latest developments and proposals with regard to the online gambling market in South Africa.

Data & Forecasts

South Africa - National Gaming Board Report - FY2005 to FY2022

Latest annual National Gaming Board Report data from South Africa. The data released for each region contains the following information: Turnover, gross gambling revenue, tax & returns to player (RTP) by gambling sector & province and a breakdown of betting revenue by category. There are approximately 7,920 data points in this document.

Sun International Report - 2001 to 2022H1

Latest half-yearly data from South African-listed Sun International. The data released for the operator contains the following information: Revenue by business segment, region & casino, EBITDA, operating profit, profit before tax and number of slots & tables by casino. There are approximately 2,415 data points in this document.

Tsogo Sun Gaming Report - FY2010 to FY2022

Latest annual data from South African-listed Tsogo Sun Gaming. The data released for the operator contains the following information: Net gaming revenue, rooms revenue, food and beverage revenue, total income, operating expenses, operating profit and income, EBITDAR and EBITDAR margin by business segment. There are approximately 1,025 data points in this document.

South Africa - National Lotteries Board Report - FY2003 to FY2020

Latest annual data from the National Lotteries Board of South Africa. The data released contains for the country the following information: Lottery sales breakdown by province and game. There are approximately 135 data points in this document.

IFHA Global Horseracing Report - 2008 to 2019

Latest annual data from the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA). The data released contains the following information: Number of flat and jump races by country and horserace betting turnover, amount returned to bettors and deductions by country. There are approximately 6,130 data points in this document.