Rapidly growing online activity devastating households across South Africa
Online betting is showing rapid growth, which Dr Frans Cronje said is causing tremendous damage by exploiting the desperate poverty in South Africa.
Gross gambling revenue (GGR) in South Africa, the amount households spend on betting, increased from R26.3 billion in 2015 to R74.5 billion in 2024.
The annual growth rate of gambling revenue averaged 6.5% between the 2015/16 and 2019/20 financial years.
However, the coronavirus outbreak and the shift to online gambling completely changed the game in South Africa.
Gambling revenue growth accelerated to 34.1% in the post-pandemic period, driven by increased betting activity.
Online betting has become the primary driver of the gambling industry in South Africa, significantly outpacing traditional casinos.
Betting, which includes retail and online betting, accounts for the largest share of revenue, rising from 12.4% in the 2013 financial year to 69.8% in 2025.
Conversely, traditional casinos’ contribution to gambling revenue declined markedly from 78.4% to 22.3% over the same period.
The significant increase in betting was primarily driven by a surge in online betting revenue over the last few years.
Online betting accounted for 80.7% of total betting revenue in 2023/24 and 85.5% in 2024/25. It increased from R29 billion to R44 billion in a year.
Online betting’s R44 billion in revenue is more than casinos, retail betting, limited payout machines, and bingo combined.
This clearly shows that South Africans have moved to online betting platforms and are spending most of their money there.
The chart below shows the share of gross gambling revenue by gambling mode in South Africa over the last ten years.
Political parties call for urgent intervention related to online gambling
Build One South Africa (BOSA) leader Mmusi Maimane described online gambling as a national public health and social crisis.
He campaigned for online gambling to be classified as a sin-tax industry by the National Treasury and face additional taxes.
He added that a portion of all gambling revenues should be earmarked for prevention, rehabilitation, and youth upliftment programmes.
Rise Mzansi shared Maimane’s concerns, arguing that South Africa is in a gambling crisis which requires urgent intervention.
“Our cell phones have become portable casinos targeting the most vulnerable, including grant recipients, students, and minors,” it said.
It warned that South Africans are not just gambling away money which they cannot afford, but money which they do not have.
“Many are using credit to gamble. This is dangerous for South Africans’ financial situations and the economy as a whole,” it said.
The party called for a ban on gambling advertisements between 05:00 and 10:00 in the morning and 17:00 and 22:00 in the evening.
“South Africans are bombarded with gambling advertisements. These advertisements do not adequately communicate the dangers of gambling,” it said.
It wants to increase taxes on the industry and increase the South African Responsible Gambling Foundation contributions from 0.1% to 1% of gross gambling revenue.
It called for gambling operators to allocate 40% of their annual marketing spend on responsible gambling messaging.
“They must enhance due diligence for gambling transactions and ban gambling on credit and overdraft,” it said.
The people behind online gambling in South Africa are evil
Economic expert Dr Frans Cronje argues that the people behind online gambling in South Africa are evil as they cause tremendous hardship and societal problems.
Cronje is a proponent of free markets and capitalism. However, in the case of online betting, the situation is complicated.
He explained that during the Covid-19 pandemic, people flocked to online betting, driven by aggressive marketing by global gaming powerhouses.
“South Africans adopted online betting on an enormous scale. They bet R1.5 trillion per year, a fifth of GDP,” he said.
Online betting companies are continuing their aggressive marketing campaigns, creating the illusion that people can be assured of winning tremendous riches.
Cronje said the betting companies are exploiting the desperate poverty in South Africa, where people hope they can improve their financial situation through online gambling.
He added that poor South Africans, who are not well educated, are no match for the algorithms used by online betting giants.
“Betting is addictive. People become addicts. It is like letting heroin run wild in the streets,” Cronje said.
The result is that many South Africans are losing a significant portion of their money through betting, leaving them desperate.
Cronje said, despite holding liberal convictions, he would ban online gambling in South Africa if he had the power.
He added that the people behind the online betting industry are evil, and he does not know how they can live with themselves.
“If you see some of the people who have lost their money and how desperate they become, you will understand why I say so,” he said.
“Betting breaks up families. Kids lose their parents. It leads to alcohol and drug abuse. It leads to domestic violence.”
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