South Africa Eyes 20% Online Gambling Tax as Digital Betting Skyrockets

South Africa’s online gambling boom has been building for years, but now the government is preparing to step in and not lightly. A new proposal from the National Treasury suggests slapping a 20% tax on gross online gambling revenue, a move that could reshape one of the country’s fastest-growing digital industries.

And while the numbers show the state could earn up to R10 billion, Treasury insists this isn’t about cash alone. It’s about curbing a gambling surge that’s gripping a stressed nation, especially its youth.

A Country Betting More Than Ever

If you feel like everyone around you is betting these days, from soccer multibets to late-night roulette on apps you’re not wrong.
Data from the National Gambling Board reveals that:

• R1.5 trillion was wagered in the 2024–25 financial year a jump of nearly 30% from the year before.

• National participation in gambling has almost doubled, rising from 30.6% in 2017 to 65.7% by the end of 2023.

• The biggest players? Young adults aged 25 to 34.

Provinces leading the pack Mpumalanga, Western Cape, and Gauteng account for more than 80% of total wagering turnover.

For a country battling some of the highest unemployment rates in the world, this spike tells a deeper story: people are betting because the economy is shrinking their options. Cheap data bundles, smartphones, and aggressive online marketing have turned gambling into an everyday escape.

The Social Toll Behind the Numbers

At taxi ranks, student residences, and shebeens alike, gambling apps have become as common as WhatsApp. But families are starting to feel the fallout:
missed rent payments, secret debts, and young breadwinners draining salaries before mid-month.

The Treasury frames the proposed tax as a form of harm reduction, saying it aims to “discourage problem and pathological gambling and their ill effects.”

Mental-health NGOs and addiction counsellors have been sounding the alarm for years, but the issue has been growing faster than the regulations meant to contain it.

What the 20% Tax Would Do

Under the proposal, South Africa would apply a 20% tax on all online betting and interactive gambling revenue, bringing it closer to international norms:

• UK: 21% remote gaming tax

• New Zealand: 12% offshore duty on online gambling profits

In addition, the Treasury wants betting operators to register directly with SARS and hand over the same information they currently file with provincial gambling boards.
The idea is simple: tighten reporting, streamline compliance, and strengthen oversight.

For honest operators, it could mean less provincial red tape. For dodgy platforms, the walls may be closing in.

How South Africans Are Reacting

Public reaction has been immediate and divided.

“About time,” say some.

Parents and community leaders argue that gambling addiction has quietly become one of the country’s most damaging social issues. A higher tax, they say, might make betting companies rethink their relentless advertising.

Others fear the unintended consequences.

Punters on social media claim the new tax won’t stop people from betting, it will simply make companies hike fees or push users toward unregulated offshore sites.

Industry insiders are cautious.

Some operators warn that heavy taxation could threaten small platforms, but many acknowledge that South Africa’s market has been operating in a regulatory grey zone for too long.

A Digital Industry Growing Faster Than the Law

While casinos and lotteries operate under strict provincial rules, online gambling has expanded with far fewer guardrails.
The proposed tax signals something bigger: a push to modernize South Africa’s approach to digital betting.

The country isn’t trying to shut the industry down, but it is trying to slow it, regulate it, and keep it from spiraling into a nationwide crisis.

A Turning Point for Online Gambling in SA

As economic pressure intensifies, digital betting has become both an escape and a trap for many South Africans. The government’s new tax proposal is essentially a message:

If online gambling is here to stay, it must be controlled.

Whether the 20% tax becomes law will depend on consultations, industry responses, and political appetite.
But one thing is clear: the era of lightly regulated online betting in South Africa may be coming to an end.

{Source: BusinessTech}

Follow Joburg ETC on Facebook, Twitter , TikTok and Instagram

For more News in Johannesburg, visit joburgetc.com