{"id":631689,"date":"2026-03-03T15:03:36","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T13:03:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=631689"},"modified":"2026-03-03T22:07:51","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T20:07:51","slug":"online-gambling-under-siege-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/internet\/631689-online-gambling-under-siege-in-south-africa.html","title":{"rendered":"Online gambling legal showdown looms in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The National Gambling Board’s notice directing provincial regulators to prohibit Remote Gambling Servers raises constitutional concerns, a gambling law expert has warned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The National Gambling Board (NGB) issued the notice on Friday, 27 February, the same day public submissions closed on National Treasury’s proposed 20% national gambling tax.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was the latest in a series of steps from the NGB to crack down on online gambling in South Africa, which is technically illegal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, betting operators with valid licences from provincial authorities have been exploiting loopholes in the law to offer online casino-style games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Companies that were licensed as sportsbook operators now offer roulette, slots, and blackjack, essentially arguing that gamblers were betting on the outcomes of those games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wayne Lurie, who has practised gambling regulatory law exclusively for almost 24 years, said the notice goes beyond clarifying existing law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said it enters the territory of creating new prohibitions through administrative action rather than through legislation passed by Parliament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lurie explained that a Remote Gambling Server (RGS) is technology infrastructure, not gambling activity in itself, and represents only one mode of technological implementation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RGS is a form of cloud-based software used to support online gambling platforms, functioning as back-end technology for gambling activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NGB directed all Provincial Licensing Authorities to prohibit the approval or continued use of RGS in licensed gambling operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The directive aligns with a notice from the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS) regarding the certification status of such servers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NRCS confirmed that South African national standard SANS 1718-4:2018 applies only to Wagering and Record Keeping Systems, not to RGS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has formally ceased issuing or renewing letters of certification for Remote Gambling Servers, and any previously issued letters have lapsed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Acting NGB CEO Lungile Dukwana said the board would monitor implementation across all provinces and report to the relevant minister.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Constitutional question<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Constitutional Court archive photo by Media Club South Africa<\/a>, CC BY-SA 2.0<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Lurie said the notice raises a constitutional competency concern because it effectively prohibits categories of technology through regulatory instruction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the National Gambling Act, regulatory authority is deliberately divided, with Parliament determining which gambling activities are lawful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NGB establishes national norms and standards, while Provincial Licensing Authorities license and supervise gambling operations within their jurisdictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Technical certification falls under the statutory mandate of the NRCS, making it a separate institutional function from the NGB’s oversight role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lurie said the absence of SANS 1718 certification does not convert technology into unlawful conduct and cannot be used to that effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He warned the notice risks achieving indirectly what neither the Act nor Parliament has expressly done through the legislative process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regulators in a constitutional system founded on legality exercise only those powers granted to them by statute, Lurie said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Online gambling is illegal, says NGB<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Lungile Dukwana, National Gambling Board acting CEO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The NGB has repeatedly stated that interactive gambling remains unlawful under Section 11 of the National Gambling Act in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The law prohibits making an interactive game available without explicit national authorisation, distinguishing it from lawful online sports betting and wagering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is also currently no law that allows online gambling platforms to be licensed nationally. Although several attempts have been made to pass such legislation, none have been signed into law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NGB\u2019s notice follows last year’s Supreme Court of Appeal judgment in the Portapa v Casino Association of South Africa case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That ruling found it unlawful for Gauteng bookmakers to offer fixed-odds bets on roulette games without a casino licence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many sports betting platforms have operated in a legal grey area, arguing they were offering bets on outcomes and not an interactive gambling service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some provinces, notably the Western Cape and Mpumalanga, have permitted their bookmaker licensees to offer casino-style games under existing permits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Others have not, creating an inconsistent regulatory landscape across the country that the NGB notice now hopes to address.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The South African Responsible Gambling Foundation (SARGF) found last year that nearly 45% of grant recipients were gambling away money intended for basic needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SARGF is not to be confused with the Safe and Responsible Online Gambling Association (SAROGA), of which Lurie is the head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Legislative intervention needed<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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South African Parliament, National Assembly building, before it was set on fire by an arsonist in 2022. Photo by: van Blerk \/ Shutterstock.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Lurie acknowledged that clarity on remote gambling policy is needed but said durable certainty must come from Parliament, not administrative expansion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He warned that blurring the boundaries between national oversight, provincial licensing, and technical regulation diminishes regulatory certainty and discourages investment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enforcement itself becomes vulnerable to legal challenge when the lines between national oversight, provincial licensing, and technical regulation blur, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

National Treasury’s proposed 20% gambling tax is expected to appear in draft legislation later this year, following stakeholder consultations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The National Gambling Board’s notice directing provincial regulators to prohibit Remote Gambling Servers raises constitutional concerns, a gambling law expert has warned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":616369,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,49317],"tags":[98658,12285,1719,103559,103561,103560,23391],"class_list":["post-631689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-internet","category-it-services","tag-national-gambling-board-ngb","tag-national-treasury","tag-online-gambling","tag-remote-gambling-server-rgs","tag-safe-and-responsible-online-gambling-association-saroga","tag-south-african-responsible-gambling-foundation-sargf","tag-wayne-lurie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631689"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=631689"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631689\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":631796,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631689\/revisions\/631796"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/616369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=631689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=631689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=631689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}