EDITORIAL | South Africa’s gambling crisis demands urgent, unified action

South Africa is facing a silent but devastating epidemic, gambling addiction. The latest figures from the National Gambling Board (NGB) are not just staggering, they’re a call to arms.

In just one year, the number of distressed gamblers seeking help via the national counselling line increased sixfold, from 140,000 to over 1.1-million. This isn’t a statistical anomaly; it is a reflection of a nation in financial distress and social decay, where hope is increasingly pinned on the spin of a slot or the outcome of a football match.

Gambling has become deeply embedded in the daily lives of millions of South Africans. In the 2024 financial year alone, the industry generated R75bn in gross revenue on a jaw-dropping R1.5-trillion in turnover. That’s more than R4bn gambled each day. While the gambling sector contributes 0.83% to GDP and pays billions in taxes, its social cost is spiralling out of control.

The real tragedy lies beneath the surface of these economic gains: 27% of gamblers are social grant recipients. These are individuals for whom gambling is not entertainment but a desperate attempt to escape poverty. It’s no surprise then that the South African Responsible Gambling Foundation (SARGF) is seeing a surge in calls from people with full-time, part-time, or self-employment, people gambling not for fun, but out of economic desperation.

What makes today’s crisis different from yesterday’s is technology. The shift to online gambling, accelerated by Covid-19 lockdowns, has made betting easier, faster and more private. No longer confined to casinos or race tracks, South Africans now carry their vice in their pockets. With 24/7 access to gambling apps and aggressive digital advertising by betting companies, the temptation never sleeps.

The SARGF reports that over 83% of problem gamblers accumulated more debt in the past year, a sharp rise from the year before.

Young people are increasingly caught in the trap. With limited access to education, employment or skills development, many see betting as their only path to financial salvation. But this illusion comes at a heavy price: mounting debt, broken families and, tragically, suicide. The SARGF reports that over 83% of problem gamblers accumulated more debt in the past year, a sharp rise from the year before.

The regulatory response has been disjointed and too slow to keep pace. The National Gambling Amendment Act of 2008, meant to address online betting, is still unpromulgated. Successive attempts at reform have stalled in parliament. This legislative paralysis has opened the floodgates for online gambling operators, both legal and illegal, to prey unchecked on vulnerable populations.

The DTIC’s recent efforts to revive regulatory reform are welcome but overdue. Stronger controls are needed now, not just to regulate the market but to actively protect the public. These must include:

• stricter limits on advertising, especially across digital and mass media platforms;
• mandatory affordability checks and daily or monthly spend limits;
• blocking access to illegal offshore platforms, through coordination with banks and telecoms;
• public education campaigns to debunk the myth that gambling is a reliable income source;
• support structures for addicts, including expanded counselling and debt-relief services.

But regulation alone will not solve the crisis. Gambling is thriving in the cracks left by deep socioeconomic inequalities — high unemployment, low financial literacy and widespread hopelessness. As long as betting feels like the only path to upward mobility, addiction will flourish.

Economist Dawie Roodt is right to warn against over-regulation that may push gambling underground. But doing nothing is far worse. A balanced approach, one that protects the vulnerable while ensuring the industry operates with accountability, is not only possible, it is essential.

South Africa is at a crossroads. The gambling industry cannot be allowed to grow unchecked while destroying the very society that feeds it. Stakeholders, from government to operators to civil society, must urgently come together to strike a new social compact. Gambling may be a legitimate economic sector, but it should never come at the cost of lives, livelihoods and the nation’s collective well-being.

Enough is enough. South Africa must bet on its people, not on their desperation.