Sports Betting South Africa

Best Betting Sites for South African Players Rated by Industry Experts

Every fan of betting on sports is on the lookout for the best sites that make their experience as good, safe and enjoyable as possible, which is all perfectly understandable.

But trawling through endless sites and analysing every last feature of each one is a long, time-consuming task that requires not only patience but also an expert understanding of what exactly you’re looking for and why. And that’s precisely where our team of industry experts come into it. 

We’ve been doing just that - reviewing sportsbooks from all over the world in great detail and in a fair and unbiased way. 

But there’s even more to it than that. What is a top online betting site in South Africa may not be exactly what sports betting fans in Canada want, and vice versa. That’s where knowledge of local needs and wants comes into it, and it’s surprising how they differ from one country to another. 

Again, our team of experts know what players from different countries are after. That could be anything from knowing which specific sports are particularly popular among customers from that country to what type of betting markets they enjoy the most. That’s why this page and the reviews on it are specific to South Africa betting sites, rather than just betting sites in general.

How We Rate South Africa Betting Sites

There’s a lot more to a sports betting site than what first meets the eye. How many different sports it offers or what the welcome bonus really is is just the tip of the iceberg, and the harder you look at a sportsbook, the more you’ll find that is relevant to customers and their experience of playing there. That said, not all of a site’s features are as relevant as others and as a matter of policy, these are the eight factors we consider to be most important and the ones we analyse in the greatest depth when it comes to sports betting sites in South Africa. 

• Sportsbook’s licence: Sports betting sites in South Africa are either holders of a betting licence by doing everything by the book and purchasing a licence to operate there, or they’re not. That’s because some sites accept South African customers without holding a licence. This is yet another example of it all being a ‘grey area’. It goes without saying that we give considerable preference to the sites that do operate with a licence, and in our reviews, we’ll clarify which of the two categories that site falls under. 
• Reputation: We determine what sort of reputation we think a betting site has by looking at the reviews written about it by players and by tracking the Customer Complaints section, where players can air their displeasures at poor experiences they’ve had at a particular sportsbook. By assessing these two, we’re in a good position to decide how the AskGamblers community views that particular site’s reputation. 
• Security: However good a site is when it comes to placing sports bets on it, it won’t be a good site unless its security is of a high standard. That includes anything from your money and data being safe, to the site having the necessary certificates when it comes to the software that’s used to protect itself against hackers or other fraudsters. A secure site is also one you can count on to process withdrawals without lengthy delays or unreasonable KYC checks. 
• Betting bonuses and promotions: The best betting sites in South Africa have frequent, varied promotions that keep customers engaged and feel like they’re getting something back for their loyalty. Key to all this is that the bookie has wagering requirements that are reasonable. In other words, they make it possible for you to actually be able to withdraw winnings from a bonus with wagering requirements of 1x or 2x, rather than 4x or 5x, which is extremely hard to do. 
• Number of sports/markets: Part of this is that the betting site covers all the major sports, lots of leagues and competitions within those sports and provides a great variety of betting markets within that. The other part is that the Sportsbook offers the sports that are particularly popular in that country rather than just offering the same sports across all their markets and hoping the customers from that country like to bet on them.  
• Payment options: The more payment options that betting sites in South Africa offer, the better, as that gives customers greater choice. But the payment options themselves need to be ones that are widely used in the country in question as different countries give preference to different payment methods. 
• Betting odds: One of the most important factors of all, as the more seasoned gambler will know.  Consistently taking poor odds, whether the bet goes on to win or not, is a recipe for disaster. Consistently taking high odds in comparison to the rest of the market is the smart play. So, the odds across the board must always be competitive, and it’s even better if that site often offers higher odds than the rest.  
• Customer support: We expect customer support agents to be knowledgeable, helpful and efficient when it comes to solving your problems and that you can reach them via different methods such as e-mail, live chat or phone.  

How to Choose a Top South African Betting Site Based on Your Betting Preferences

No betting site in the world will appeal to every last customer out there, so the secret is to find the one that’s just right for you in terms of what you like to bet on. 

If you’re a typical South African customer, you’ll probably enjoy betting on rugby and cricket, and you’ll want to bet on all your personal favourite competitions, even the slightly more obscure ones, so make sure that the site offers them as well as the most famous ones. 

The same goes for the betting markets within those sports. There’s a lot more to cricket betting, for example than just the winner market, so if you like playing side markets like the top batsman, top bowler or man-of-the-match markets, you’ll want to have an account at a sports betting site in South Africa that offers those markets not just on the biggest matches of all but also on the majority of the less high-profile ones.   

And if you like playing certain types of bets, like Bet Builders or cross-sport accas, you’ll want to be sure that the site offers those as well.

How Sports Betting is Regulated in South Africa

South Africa is a more complicated online betting market than most. It’s a typical example of where it’s often something of a grey area, and we’ll talk you through all of that, explaining what is and isn’t illegal in South Africa when it comes to sports betting and how that affects you when it comes to funding an account and playing at it. 

Online betting in South Africa is regulated by the Gambling Amendment Act of 2008, but unusually, the Act does not legalise online betting in the country. Instead, it provides a regulatory framework for the industry, carried out by different government bodies, each tasked with controlling different elements of this rapidly growing industry. 

At the top is the National Gambling Board (NGB), which is responsible for regulating the industry as a whole and operates under the Department of Trade and Industry. It makes sure that all gambling activities are conducted fairly and transparently and that legal operators adhere to the relevant laws and regulations. 

In addition to betting sites being able to show financial stability, practise responsible gambling, and adequately protect player funds, the operator must also undergo regular audits and inspections in order to keep the license.    

The National Gambling Regulator enforces the regulations.  Then there’s the National Gambling Council, which is responsible for advising the government on gambling-related policy matters. 

Online betting in South Africa is also regulated at the provincial level by local authorities. Working closely with the NGB, each province’s regulatory body monitors and enforces relevant laws and regulations.  

Though the licence for online sports betting isn’t expensive (€500/ £430), South Africa is rather unique in that it also insists the operator invests in the country: €300,000 if it’s a local company and €500,000 if it’s a foreign operator. 

Different types of tax are then charged to the betting companies in order to further provide revenue to South Africa as a whole. 

That said, not all betting sites do things by the book. Some sportsbooks continue to operate in South Africa without a licence at all despite the best efforts to stop them from doing so. Though that means South Africans can bet with them, and there probably won’t be legal repercussions to players, it’s not advisable to do so as customers will have little or no protection should something go wrong.

How Often Do We Add New South African Betting Sites?

As per above, not all sites operating in South Africa do so while holding a valid betting licence. Crucially, we only review and rate the ones that do, as safety and player protection is a big consideration for us here at AskGamblers. 

So, we’ll continue to keep our eyes peeled for new betting sites in South Africa that obtain a licence and open their virtual doors to South African customers. 

Once we’re aware of them, we’ll review the site, scrutinise it across those eight major categories and give it a final rating. If it’s a high rating, we’ll then add it to our list of recommended sports betting sites in South Africa. 

Most Popular Payment Options for Sports Betting in South Africa

The best sports betting sites in South Africa look to offer as many payment options as they can to give customers as much choice as possible when it comes to deposits and withdrawals. These are the most popular ones.

• Debit cards: Cards such as VISA, Mastercard, Maestro, American Express and Diners Club are among the most widely used in South Africa when it comes to betting transactions. There are usually no charges associated with using them at online betting sites in South Africa, one of the reasons why they’re popular.  
• E-Wallets: PayPal, Neteller, Skrill, and Paysafecard are popular for their speed and security at South African gambling sites. E-wallets are popular with online betting customers because they are fast, easy to use and convenient. Customers can easily transfer money from their e-wallet account to their betting account in a matter of minutes. All the leading betting site in the South African sports betting market offer e-wallets as a payment method exactly because they tick so many boxes as an attractive payment method. 
• Bank transfers: Direct bank transfers allow customers to move funds directly from their bank accounts to their betting accounts. One of the most common forms of transfer is the electronic funds transfer (EFT). On the one hand, bank transfers are extremely secure, on the other hand, they’re one of the slower methods of moving your money around.  Nedbank, FirstRand, Standard Bank, Capitec, ABSA Bank Limited, Finbond and First National Bank (FNB) are the South African banks boasting the most customers. 

Most Popular Sports Betting Competitions and Sports in South Africa 

Professional sports are huge in South Africa, a big part of daily life in terms of media coverage, debates among friends on it, attendance at events, and watching it on television. But these are the sports that South Africans most like to bet on. 

• Rugby: The most popular sport to watch in South Africa is also the one that people most want to bet on: rugby. As if it wasn’t popular already, back-to-back wins at the Rugby World Cup, the last one in 2023, further cemented its place in the hearts of South Africans. That means there’s always a lot of betting action when the Springboks are playing, especially at World Cups and the Rugby Championships; the Six Nations (played by six European national teams) is also popular. But South Africans also enjoy betting on domestic competitions, such as the Currie Cup and the Rugby Challenge, while there’s also interest in domestic leagues from other countries, such as those in England, New Zealand and Australia. 
• Cricket: South Africa has famously never won a World ICC event, but that certainly hasn’t prevented cricket from being much loved in South Africa. As you’d expect, matches involving the Proteas are a favourite for betting on across the three different formats, though TV coverage of other international teams in action means it’s not just on South Africa that punters over there like to bet on. Aside from the international matches, the Indian Premier League is another much-loved event to bet on.
• Football: Another sport where international success is yet to be achieved and another sport where that hasn’t stopped South Africans from loving it. Though the domestic football league – the DStv Premiership – is followed by the locals, the greater appetite in terms of watching and betting on it is for the English Premier League, as is the case in plenty of other countries. European competitions like the Champions League and Europa League also bring in serious business while the World Cup, whether South Africa is there or not, is probably the biggest football betting competition of them all. 

Future of Online Sports Betting Sites in South Africa

South Africa, with a significant population of just under 60 million, a love for sports and sports betting and the wide availability of mobile phones throughout the country that facilitate online betting, can become one of the biggest gambling markets in the world over the next few years. 

Legislation passed in 2022 to further regulate and control remote gambling activities in the country is crucial to the continued growth of the industry, which, if done properly, will result in huge amounts of money paid to the government by operators in terms of tax. That’s understandably one of the motivating factors behind the legislation. But not the only one.

Greater regulation and scrutiny will also help address areas of concern, including money laundering, a lack of protection for both players and operators and a greater need to promote responsible gambling.  

At the heart of all this is the need to solve the problem of foreign betting companies being able to (illegally) accept South African customers. Not only does this mean the South African government isn’t receiving tax revenue from them, as it should, but also that players have no protection as the whole operation is not above board. Players who feel hard done by have no higher body to complain to. 

Attempting to block access to these sites has so far proved unsuccessful as customers who choose to bet with foreign sites have found ways to circumvent this, as have the operators themselves.  

The better solution is, therefore, to find a way of making the act of entering the South African betting market the legal way more attractive to foreign operators. Or to somehow persuade betting customers to play only at legal and regulated sites by highlighting the advantages of that to the players themselves. Both could prove to be easier said than done. 

But things are certainly heading in the right direction in a country where, years ago, there was virtually no regulation at all.