The South African gambling sector is facing renewed political pressure following the release of parliamentary data revealing a consistent and high volume of license approvals.
A written disclosure provided to MP Makashule Gana of Rise Mzansi showed that provincial boards issued 3,135 licenses in the 2024/2025 financial year, following similar tallies of 3,174 and 3,186 in the preceding periods.
Regional Growth and Oversight Disparities
The majority of these approvals were granted to Limited Payout Machine (LPM) sites and bookmakers. Licensing remains decentralized across provincial boards, with Gauteng leading the surge with 753 approvals, followed by KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape.
This rapid expansion of the South African gambling sector has sparked concerns that oversight mechanisms, specifically regarding responsible gambling and financial reporting, may not be scaling in tandem with the industry’s footprint.
The Challenges of Online Enforcement
A separate report from the Police Minister to MP Songezo Zibi highlighted a massive gap between land-based and digital enforcement. While over 32,000 illegal gambling cases were recorded over five years, only 36 involved online activities. This disparity stems from the technical difficulty of tracking ephemeral websites and legal hurdles involving search warrants.
Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Parks Tau is now facing calls for a comprehensive review of the current framework. Proposed solutions include:
- Improving information sharing between national and provincial bodies.
- Implementing more rigorous post-licensing compliance audits.
- Standardizing enforcement capabilities across all provinces to eliminate “weak links” in the regulatory chain.
