SA’s gambling mania

Our graphs this week show the sharp increase in online betting in South Africa and in calls made to the national gambling helpline.

This has been fuelled by an increase in betting sites and the addictive products they offer, coupled with aggressive and highly deceptive marketing.

AI coding tools have made it much easier to set up online betting games. The industry is largely unregulated, and it’s a sure way for companies with indifferent ethics to make large amounts of easy money.

The National Gambling Board differentiates between gambling at physical casinos and betting.

Betting includes online gambling and online casinos, which has become ubiquitous, and the horse racing industry, which has become relatively small.

The first graph shows that in 2014, South Africans gambled about R252-billion at casinos and bet about R30-billion. Betting has since risen exponentially, to R1.1-trillion in 2024/25.

Meanwhile, gambling at casinos has stayed constant in recent years, and was under R300-billion in 2024/25. In fact, since our graph is not corrected for inflation, casino gambling is actually on the decline.

The second graph shows the dramatic increase in calls made to the national gambling helpline: 65,000 in 2022/23, 140,000 in 2023/24 and over a million in 2024/25.

The helpline is funded by the national gambling board through levies paid by gambling companies. The costs of running the line have skyrocketed – from R1.1-million in 2023/24, to R3.4-million in 2024/25.

It provides counselling over the phone and refers people for treatment. Over 4,000 people were referred in 2024/25. Only half that number actually started treatment, and 23 people completed all ten sessions in the treatment programme.

Many people see gambling as a source of income and are gambling with their SASSA grants or NSFAS allowances – while the gambling companies profit.

Concurrent with the rise in online betting has been the rise of gambling influencers, people who make false claims about gambling on social media. They’ll tell you how much money they’ve made using some or other bogus methodology. They get paid for this.

Celebrities are also advertising for the online betting industry:

• Eben and Anlia Etzebeth are promoting Hollywood Bets.
• Cassper Nyovest is promoting World Sports Betting.
• Siphiwe Tshabalala is a brand ambassador for Betway.
• Jimmy Tau and Phumudzo Manenzhe are brand ambassadors for SuperSportBet.
• Herschelle Gibbs is a brand influencer for 10bet.
• JamJam is promoting Play.

Chart produced by The Outlier in partnership with GroundUp

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