As concerns about the prominence of illegal gambling continue to grow in South Africa, the biggest bookmaker trade body in the country has called for more action and less talks about taking action.

Data from the National Gambling Board (NGB), the authority overseeing licensed gambling in South Africa, puts the total amount of money generated by illegal platforms at R5trn (£303.8m) in 2025 – or around 3.75% of the total R75trn made by the regulated sector in that same year.

But with 60% of the total population, or 39 million people, living below the upper-middle income poverty line, the illegal problem gambling and the lack of player safety mechanisms becomes even more exacerbated.

In a call to action to challenge that, the South African Bookmakers Association (SABA) is now proposing a six-point national strategy to be adopted by South Africa’s authorities and regulatory bodies.

“For many months, SABA has been actively engaging with the NGB, policymakers and other stakeholders to develop a practical, evidence-based strategy to combat the rapid growth of the illegal offshore gambling market,” SABA’s Chief Executive Officer, Sean Coleman, said.

“Those engagements have included detailed presentations, legislative gap analyses, international benchmarking and public awareness initiatives aimed at educating consumers about the risks posed by illegal operators.

“The conclusion reached through that work is straightforward. South Africa does not suffer from a lack of laws prohibiting illegal online gambling. It suffers from a lack of laws that enable effective enforcement. The country’s current framework is best described as ‘prohibition without enforcement.’”

SABA recommended a total of six amendments that it views as necessary to ringfence South African licensed market against illegal operators:

• Clear legal definition of what constitutes an unlawful operator;
• Increased website blocking powers for authorised regulators;
• Disruption of the payments infrastructure servicing illegal platforms;
• Overarching legal action against illegal gambling facilitators, such as payment firms and affiliates;
• Increased scrutiny against promoters of illegal gambling, such as influencers;
• A centralised enforcement framework, with coordinated inter-agency approach.

These issues have been highlighted by Coleman in previous interviews with SBC News, when he commented: “It is really challenging to ensure that your company’s standard operating procedures meet the nuances of nine different sets of gambling laws, compliance and licence conditions imposed.

“Whilst attempts at creating national norms and standards have started, they too sit in the ‘fail’ column with the NGB.”

Individual South Africa-licensed operators, such as Entain-owned Sportingbet, have also expressed willingness to engage in discussions about limiting the influence of the black market.

Last year, Sportingbet SA Co-Founder, Tyrone Dobbin, wrote an open letter to all nine gambling authorities in the African state, also calling for unity and a coordinated national strategy against black market operators targeting the country.