South Africa politician calls for pause on new bookmaker licenses
South Africa’s gambling sector is issuing more than 3,000 licences annually, prompting renewed scrutiny over regulatory oversight as bookmaker numbers continue to rise.
Figures revealed in a parliamentary reply to Rise Mzansi MP Makashule Gana show 3,135 licences were issued in 2024/25, following similarly high totals in recent years.
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The bulk relate to limited payout machine operators, which are essentially venues with limited gambling, and betting sites, with provinces such as Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape leading approvals.
“We cannot allow the pursuit of profit to outpace our ability to regulate and protect the South African public,” Gana said.
If these companies do not pay for the damage they are causing… [we will face] a huge burden.
“No country has ever gambled itself to prosperity.”
The data highlights a sharp increase in licensed bookmakers, growing from 288 in 2020 to 402 in 2025. Gana warned that this rapid expansion, particularly in online betting, risks outpacing existing monitoring systems.
He has called for a moratorium on new bookmaker licences and the introduction of a national regulatory framework for online operators.
Separate figures also point to enforcement gaps, with just 36 illegal online gambling cases recorded over five years despite tens of thousands of broader gambling-related offences.
