Archive post. Issued by SAMNET on 9 August 2024 and published here as part of SAMNET’s advocacy archive. The figures are those in the National Gambling Board’s 2024 annual report as reported at the time.

SAMNET wishes to express its concern at the unchecked growth of gambling in South Africa, fuelled by online betting.

We call on civil society and on legislators to engage actively on this issue, to protect the most vulnerable — particularly women, children and the poor, who bear an unequal share of the consequences of addictive behaviour.

What the numbers show

  • South Africa’s gambling industry generated R47.2 billion in revenue in the reporting year — the highest ever recorded — with online betting accounting for more than half of it.
  • Referrals for treatment through the Responsible Gambling programme doubled to 2 299 in 2022/23 after a Covid-19 lull. Most were aged 25 to 35.
  • The number of people formally asking to be banned by venues or online sites has risen by more than 240% in four years.

One recovered addict who now helps others calls online betting the silent killer, and describes it as a crisis hitting the people who are already struggling most.

Predatory by design

This is being fed by uncontrolled advertising and predatory practice — including the spread of “risk-free betting” promotions used to acquire customers cheaply. It was most visible during the last Rugby World Cup, where a lead sponsor filled the screens with “get your money back” offers aimed squarely at new subscribers. Online gambling brings the betting shop into our homes, 24 hours a day, every day of the year.

Other countries are acting

The English Premier League has moved to ban gambling companies as front-of-shirt sponsors from 2026 and is weighing further measures. South Africa and its legislators appear to be ignoring the social and financial damage accumulating here.

It is close to impossible to watch any sport without betting advertising. The effect on impressionable children and young people should not be underestimated — and combined with the surge in alcohol advertising around sport, it is a toxic pairing.

What we are calling for

At the very least, as a starting point: advertising restrictions of the kind applied to tobacco and nicotine — times, places, sports, locations, volume limits and health warnings — applied to gambling and alcohol alike, and especially where they attach to sport, music or educational settings. Beyond that, stronger harm-reduction strategies.

Gambling is legal in South Africa, and that is not the argument. The argument is that a legal industry needs strong checks and balances — and gambling boards have been accused of close links to the companies profiting.

Self-regulation, and asking people to “gamble responsibly” or to “seek help”, is self-serving. There is little beyond lip service addressing the mental health, financial and family consequences, while gambling and alcohol are sold as aspirational through glamour and celebrity endorsement.

Developing-country solutions for developing-country problems

In a country with very low financial literacy, extreme income inequality and high unemployment, get-rich-quick propositions are easily sold to those least able to absorb the loss. We need more than imported rules and norms, and more than the export of our wealth to foreign operators.

Let us get talking, and acting, on gambling and related addictions.

Sources

If gambling is affecting you or someone close to you, the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG) can be reached on 0800 567 567, and the National Responsible Gambling Programme counselling line on 0800 006 008.

Related

Why and How to Complain About Alcohol Advertising · Alcohol Harm Reduction — What Iceland Did

Shared by the South African Muslim Network (SAMNET) in the interest of addressing our growing gambling problem and alcohol harm reduction.