Is Online Gambling Legal In South Africa 2019

Thousands of Americans gamble online. But is online gambling legal? We break it down to show you what you can do, what you can't do, and what's still up in the air.

• Is Online Gambling Legal In South Africa 2019 2020
• Is Online Gambling Legal In South Africa 2019 Time

by Katherine Butler
updated September 03, 2020 · 2min read

The legality of online gambling is ever-changing. But one thing is constant: it makes a lot of money. Online gambling industry makes an estimated $1 billion dollars annually. This is a huge business, and a lot of people have cashed in on it. But it has led to some ambiguous legal issues, as the legality of online gambling is constantly being challenged.

GTA Online’s new casino goes bust in South Africa because online gambling is illegal here Tarryn van der Byl 23 Jul 2019 Launching today, the game’s new update opens up the Diamond Casino & Resort complex in Los Santos, featuring “lavish amenities, exclusive shopping, first-class entertainment and state-of-the-art gaming facilities”. It is comprised of national gambling regulators from the African Continent, specifically from Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Gaming regulators perform their duties under their respective laws, regulations and requirements. Contemporary research has revealed that 35% of the population in Africa are involved in gambling. However, there is no official record showing which part of this rate belongs to online casinos.

There are differences in the legality of making bets, taking bets, facilitating payments to casinos, and advertising on websites. And there are constantly new legal challenges. So here is a breakdown of the law on online gambling.

Legal Forms of Gambling

There is no federal law against placing a wager online. So, you can legally place a bet online. However, a wager must not be placed on a site located in the United States. There is a small chance players might run afoul of state law, but there is little chance of prosecution. The only case cited where a person got into trouble with a state was in 2003. Jeffrey Trauman of North Dakota paid a $500 fine on over $100,000 of online sports bet winnings.

Well, online gambling in South Africa is currently in a grey area and though there is a lot of legislation governing it, there are a few loopholes that make it open to interpretation. Online Gambling South Africa Law. Another important thing to keep in mind is that online gambling also has rules and regulations that players must adhere to and one of the basics is that you need to be 18 years or older to take part. You can find out more on South African online gambling laws on our comprehensive guide. Advantages of Gambling.

Sites that are set up outside of the United States are legal. Therefore, gambling on websites located in areas like Australia, the Caribbean, and Latin America is legal. Just be very clear that the site you are playing on is not based on U.S. soil.

Definitely Not Legal Forms of Gambling

It is never legal to gamble on a website based in the United States. Also, if you are planning to operate an online gambling site, stay outside of the United States. You must also deal only with casino and poker wagers (not sports bets) from people in the US. And you cannot take bets over the phone from people in the United States.

Accepting online gambling advertising is also illegal. If you are a small publisher, you are less likely to be prosecuted, but why risk it? As of early 2009, only large and mid-size publishers had faced prosecution. In 2007, the three big search engines (Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft) each paid a fine for accepting online gambling ads, but did not face criminal charges. Other publishers, such as Esquire Magazine, have been warned by the government not to take online gambling advertising.

Facilitating the transfer of funds to online casinos is also a bad idea. As of 2006, it became illegal for American banks to process transactions originating from or directed toward any online gambling operator. Because of this, several sites then refused to take bets from American players. But as the law seems difficult to enforce, it has not turned the tide completely for American players.

Still up in the Air

Advertisers who promote sports books in magazines and on billboards may or may not face prosecution. So far, sports books have never been scrutinized for advertising online. And online casinos, poker rooms, and sports books have never been prosecuted for buying ads.

Online casinos and operators still accept American players. And international financial parties have continued to process their transactions. The legality is always changing and there have been attempts to declare online wagering against the law, but for now, U.S. citizens who simply place bets online are in the clear.

More and more SA gamblers prefer playing on online casinos, even those, who live near the Sun City – one of the most exciting places to play. Online platforms are convenient and allow to be involved in different games simultaneously; however, only the experienced players should implement such techniques without high risk to lose the money. Well, here comes the question: where to implement the gaming skills without risk to lose the money because of the frauds, lies, technical cheating, etc.? There are a lot of seemingly reliable casinos that treat players awfully, but the number of devoted players in actually honest platforms shows the real situation.

Here we have the list of serious and strong leaders of SA casinos – their online gaming sites, that offer not only paid entertainment, but also free online slots, among other things, just to train your skills. Brief reviews of each of them will help you to start your
legal gambling path in the world of the insidious casino industry.

Punt Casino – the number one casino in SA

Punt casino has the first place in our top because of its ideal conditions for the South African players. It was designed and developed for South African players, actually, so they can be sure that this platform will meet all their requirements and play withRands.
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Being established in the 2017 year, this young online gambling platform has been providing the players with the modern system of security and has been using the Real Time Gaming software, that is famous for the supporting the great list of popular casino games, slots, and table games. You can play on your mobile phone too, the casino
supports all devices that are on iOS, Android, Windows, and Blackberry.

Bonuses:

• Welcome package that implies that after the registration you will get no deposit welcome bonus R10,000. To get this, claim the bonus BEFORE depositing money by using coupon codes WELCOME100 to get 100% of your first deposit, WELCOME75 and WELCOME125 to get 70% and 125% accordingly.
• 15% cashback on your losses every day!
• 1 coupon or deposit bonus every day.

Deposit: you are able to use Visa, Mastercard, EasyEFT, EcoPayz, Neteller, Skrill, Entropay, SID Instant EFT Transfers, and Bitcoin for the transactions. Deposits are instant.

Withdrawal: only Easy EFT, SID Instant EFT Transfers, EcoPayz, Skrill, Bitcoin, Neteller. Cashout takes from 48 hours to 7 days depending on the system that you use for withdrawal.

Well, this casino is very young. But it signifies that it is highly motivated to get and keep the new players, treating them in the best possible way so you may try this casino if you are a newcomer to the gaming industry, or an experienced guy, who is tired of the
support service absence. This place is now the leader in SA, and it is a fact.

Mansion Casino – Like at South-African home

Mansion casino is granted the second place, but it can be compared with
the previous one.

Playtech gives plenty of games to this casino, so if you like the possibility to choose among hundreds of ways to play and win that this software offers, you should consider Mansion casino (there are slots, roulettes, blackjacks, and arcade games). The quality control is guaranteed by the independent companies that this casino hires to check the new games, bonuses, and general website operation, so you can be sure that any error will be fixed as soon, as it is only possible, and the system’s crashes will be nullified.

The mobile version of this platform gives much more opportunities to get additional benefits. There are exclusive promotions and bonuses on their app, that is quite good designed, by the way, so it is worth checking.

Bonuses:

• Double Your Money Welcome Bonus (100% on the first deposit);
• High Roller Welcome Bonus (50% extra, when you deposit more than $1,000);
• Table and Cards Welcome Package (you can get this after entering the code LIVE with the first deposit, and wager 20% from the sum to unlock the 20% bonus of your deposit);
• Golden Hour (wager $50 on any roulette of the Mansion casino list and get 5 Golden Chips – it’s value is $1);
• Wild Mondays (get 20 free spins after depositing $20 with the code MAJI in Maji Wilds, and get 50 free spins after depositing $50 with the code LEGACY in Legacy of the Wild);

Deposit: you can use Credit/Debit cards, Skrill, Neteller, EntroPay, Bank Transfer, PayPal, Boku, ecoPayz, WebMoney, EasyEFT, Bitcoin. Deposits are instant. Minimum sum varies from $10 to $20. Maximum sum varies from $10,000 to $20,000.

Withdrawal: Credit/Debit cards, Skrill, Neteller, EntroPay, Bank Transfer, PayPal, ecoPayz, WebMoney, EasyEFT, and Bitcoin are available for transactions. The transactions can take 1-7 days.

What is nice about this casino, it is their range of betting games (from soccer to darts), so you can have a rest from classic casino slots online and try playing something new. Good luck and keep the fortune near you!

Casino.com – A good old SA friend

Being licensed in the 2008 year by the Government of Gibraltarasino.com is the place for those, who want to be involved in a completely legal, trustworthy, and just lovely gaming. Perfect service 24/7, fair and familiar games and their stunning design that creates a realistic experience has made this casino one of the market leaders. It is
also supported by Playtech, just like the Mansion casino. The mobile app is supported by all the iOS and Android devices and provides the same smooth gambling, as the browser version of the casino.

Bonuses:

• Welcome Package (includes 200 free spins on the Age of the Gods slot games plus 100% bonus on your first deposit – up to $400, and 20 extra free spins for the 8 days after the registration if you log into your account for these days);
• Table and Cards Welcome Package (you can get this after entering the code LIVE with the first deposit, and wager 20% from the sum to unlock the 20% bonus of your deposit);
• Golden Hour (wager $50 on any roulette of the Mansion casino list and get 5 Golden Chips – it’s value is $1);
• Wild Mondays (get 20 free spins after depositing $20 with the code MAJI in Maji Wilds, and get 50 free spins after funding your account with $50 plus the code LEGACY in Legacy of the Wild);

Deposit: Instadebit, Credit/ Debit Cards, Swiff, iDebit, ecoPayz, EntroPay, Bank Transfer, Paysafecard are available for deposits. Minimum sum varies from $5 to $25. Maximum amount ranges from $200 to $25,000.

Withdrawal: all the listed above is available for withdrawal. The transactions may take up to 3 days, depending on the way you use to withdraw your money.

Casino Las Vegas – Like in LA, but in SA

This casino is providing the players from South Africa with the proper service for more than 10 years. It is Playtech-powered, so the players can choose from the three variants – mobile, browser, and desktop/downloaded one. All the three are user-friendly and have
the design that is comprehensible and clearly understandable even for the newcomers.

Bonuses:

• Welcome bonus (100% of the first deposit plus 50 free spins);
• Loyalty nts for the real money bets: every R100 spent on slots, Keno or scratch cards will give you 1 loyalty nt that can be converted into real money.
• Mega Vegas Bonus (use code MEGA to claim between 50-100% every month).

Deposit: you can use Visa, MasterCard, Skrill, Neteller, Entropay, Paysafecard,
Trustly or Bank Transfer. Minimum deposit sum is €10. The maximum is not indicated.
Deposits are instant.

Withdrawal: the same as above. Can take up to 6 business days, but the majority of the operations will be instant. Minimum withdrawal sum is €100.

Slots Garden Casino – Superb casino of South Africa

There is always something exciting on Slots Garden Casino, and there is no wonder, why: this is supported by one of the most famous and experienced software gaming system – RTG. You can play on their website, download the desktop version, or play via the mobile phone, if it belongs to the products of Apple, or uses Android OS. Moreover, Slots Garden has their own live casino, which is a unique thing for this top so you will be able to go and play personally, checking their live service, which is also pretty good.

Bonuses:

• Welcome, Bonus (after the registration, WELCOME200 bonus code will give you R200 to use during playing on slots, table games, and video poker);
• Double Deposit Bonus (bonus code SLOTS100 will grant you will 100% sum of your deposit). This bonus is not cashable, you can spend this money only for wagering.
• CashBack Bonus;
• Weekly CashBack Bonus (if your deposits exceed R500 for a week, you will get the cashback from the whole sum).

Deposit: Credit/Debit cards, Bitcoin, Neteller, Skrill, EcoPayz. Deposits are instant.

Withdrawal: Credit Cards, Neteller, Cash Transfer, Bank Wire Transfer. Withdrawals are processed from 48 hours to 10 days, depending on the withdrawal way.

Is Online Gambling Legal In South Africa 2019 2020

Yebo Casino – Welcome to legal gaming in SA

Punt casino and Yebo casino are the “daughters” of Yebo Affiliates Casino organization. They would be siblings if Punt casino weren’t the number one in the South-African market. Yebo casino takes the 6th place in our list, but it is just because this casino has fewer games, the big minimum amount of withdrawal, and because its design and interfaces are not as usable and attractive as the other ones. For those, who want to know it is legal to play there – it is certified by the Government of Curacao, so it is reliable enough to trust it with your money.

Bonuses:

• Match Welcome Bonus. To get this, use using coupon codes WELCOME150 to get 150% of your first deposit, WELCOME75, and WELCOME50 to get 75% and 50% of your second and third deposits accordingly.
• Daily Rebate (gives up to 13% on your daily losses from non-bonus deposits, To get – make a deposit and don’t attach any bonus to it);
• Cashback Bonus.

Deposit: Visa/MasterCard, EasyEFT, NETeller, Skrill, SiD, and ecoPayz are available for banking transactions.

Withdrawal: Visa, NETeller, Skrill, ecoPayz. Minimum withdrawal amount is R1000.

Rich Casino – Become rich in South Africa

This is not just an ordinary place to play. This is one of the most famous casinos in SA, offering an amazing gaming experience with the smooth operation of the website and the other versions (mobile/downloaded one), and smooth working of the encryption system.
The interesting feature of this casino is the gaming software it uses – several providers, such as Microgaming, BetSoft, Pragmatic, support it, so the players are able to enjoy all the diversity of their services on PCs, and Android, Apple or Blackberry products.

Bonuses:

• No Deposit Welcome Bonus (50 free spins plus 200% on the first deposit, 100% on fourth deposits, and 175% on fifth deposit);

Deposit: Players can use Visa/MasterCard credit cards, EcoPayz, EasyEFT, SID, Bitcoin.

Withdrawal: EasyEFT, SID, EcoPayz, Bitcoins, and bank transfers are available for the withdrawal transactions.

Thunderbolt Casino – Get your Rands with the speed of light

One can think that a striking name is the one and only good feature of this
casino, but this is not true. Even taking into account the fact that Thunderbolt casino is not located in South Africa, it’s customer support will be with the players 24/7. Additionally, their website, download the gaming version and the mobile app are conveniently designed and are intuitive so you will feel like at home when using their software. By the way, Thunderbolt casino deals with the RTG games, which are loved by plenty of players from all over the world. You will be able to play if having a personal computer or an Apple/Android device.

Bonuses:

• No deposit bonus (with a code PLAY300 you will get R300);
• Free cash/spins/match bonuses granting a player with an indicated number/amount;
• Cashback Bonus (gives the cashback in sum that does not exceed 25%
  from the one that you won).

Deposit: Bitcoin, EasyEFT, SID, ECOPays, MasterCard/Visa, SKRILL, Neteller. Minimum deposit sum varies from R20 to R100. Transactions are instant.

Withdrawal: the same as for deposits. Minimum withdrawal sum is R500-R1000. Banking operations can take up to 72 hours.

White Lotus Casino – Meditation in South Africa

White Lotus is, probably, the most player-friendly online casino in SA. Stunning interface, brilliant range of games, 3D graphics showing online slots machines, and availability of the download and instant play mode have made this place one of the most comfortable
and has the best paying staff among all online casinos in South Africa.

Bonuses:

• Match Bonus (enter bonus code SIGNUP300/SIGNUP250/SIGNUP200 to get the indicated percent of the deposit sum);
• No Deposit Bonus (get R300 for free with the bonus code R300NEW, entered after signing up).
• Cashback Bonus.

Deposit: Credit/Debit Cards, NETeller, Skrill, EcoPayz, and EasyEFT, Secure Instant Deposit (SiD), Internet bank transfer, Bitcoins. Minimum deposit sum is R50.

Withdrawal: NETeller, Skrill, EcoPayz. Withdrawals take up to 2 days.

Is Online Gambling Legal In South Africa 2019 Time

Apollo Slots Casino – One of the best SA casinos ever

Apollo Slots is the last but not least casino in our top. It is one of the biggest online casinos with its own atmosphere and idea that unifies all the slots, table games, blackjacks on this website in one whole great website. Apollo Slots is one of the promising representatives in the international market, and its honesty and reliability are one of a kind since 2003.

A lot of players would be familiar with the games that are in Apollo Slots casino, as it is supported by the great RTG software. Both, browser and mobile version have the convenient online lobbies that allow a player to get started immediately after the registration or login.

Bonuses:

• Welcome Bonus (enter code APL200F on your account page and get R200).
• Another Welcome Bonuses are available with the bonus codes: you will receive
  100% of your deposit with the coupon “APL100”; 80% of your second deposit after
  using the coupon “APL80”; and get your 60% from your third deposit with the
  coupon “APL60”.
• Aphrodite’s Weekly Welcome bonus (Monday Special). Grants a player with the same bonuses like the bonus mentioned above grants.
• Treasure of The Titans (Tuesday Special). Using the codes Titans70, Titans60, and Titans50, you can take 70/60/50% bonus on your first/second/third deposit on Tuesdays.

Deposit: Credit card, Skrill, SID, Neteller, EcoPayz, Cash deposit, and Internet bank transfers. Depending on the bank/e-wallet, the transactions can take up to 2 days.

Withdrawal: the same conditions as for deposits.