Gambling in South Africa


South Africa is the southernmost country in Africa.  It has a population of over 55 million, estimated in 2015.
As of January 2010, South Africa has over 2 million broadband subscribers. Whilst this is the largest number in Africa, South Africa's broadband penetration of 4% is significantly below international standards.
The National Gaming Board is responsible for the oversight of the regulation in the gambling industry.  Online gambling in South Africa is illegal, except for the online platform for the national lottery, licensed sports books, and horse betting sites. 
According to South African law, anyone who is prosecuted for an online gambling related offense is liable for a fine not exceeding R10 million (approx. $723,000) or imprisonment for a period not exceeding 10 years, or both. 
According to the 2006 study, the most popular forms of gambling in South Africa were the National Lottery (96.9% participation), slot machines (27.7% participation) scratchcards (22.7% participation), charity jackpot competitions (11.6% participation) and horse racing betting (11.5% participation).  8.3% of respondents said they have never gambled and a further 5.5% claimed themselves as occasional game players with no regular forms of gambling.
The South African National Lottery was established in 2000. In its last year of operations, transaction values totaled to R3.972 billion (Approx $292million).  An average of five million transactions per week took place and it became the most popular form of gambling in South Africa.
From 1st June 2015, ITHUBA Holdings Proprietary Limited is licensed to operate the South African National Lottery.  The games they offer are Lotto, Lotto Plus, Powerball and a pari-mutuel style sports betting.  The games are available online as well.