Winners know when to stop. It’s the clichéd tagline of many betting houses, and a cruel irony for SA’s unemployed youth who treat sport betting as a quick route to income.
Smartphones, vouchers and visible sponsorships have turned betting into an accessible, culturally normalised response to economic desperation.
The mechanics are simple and brutal. An entry level phone, a voucher bought at the spaza shop or petrol station, a few rand staked on a football match, and the thrill of an impossible payoff.
For many young people, the cost of participation is low but the cost of losing is not. That R370 social relief of distress grant introduced during Covid, or money sent from working relatives to cover “black tax”, is often siphoned off into apps and flash wins that rarely last.
According to the Independent Communications Authority’s state of the ICT sector SA 2025 report, entry-level smartphone models start at R499, an appealing price, making smartphones more accessible.
Public data shows betting exploded in 2020, dwarfing casinos that were not accessible during Covid-19 lockdowns.
For the year to March 2024, betting had overtaken casinos as the largest share of gross gambling revenue at a staggering R36bn, a 42% compounded annual growth rate since 2020. Betting now represents 61% of the gambling industry’s gross gambling revenue.
“We estimate that most online bettors fall within the 26-35 age bracket, many earning between R5,000 and R15,000 a month — a demographic with an unemployment rate exceeding 40%,” said Boitumelo Mahudu, equity analyst at M&G Investments.
“At current run rates, we estimate that the money lost by South Africans to online betting platforms will soon be more than R50bn a year, suggesting some families are diverting funds away from basic household needs towards high-risk gambling in the hope of quick financial relief,” she said.
“The societal implications extend beyond individual losses. Families and communities bear the brunt of addiction, debt and diminished economic prospects, compounding SA’s already stark socio-economic challenges.”
With R1.5-trillion having been wagered in the 2025 financial year, the activity is literally taking food off many people’s tables.
Data from the Absa merchant spend analytics report for the first half of 2025 shows online gambling’s market share has expanded markedly, rising from 26% of total gambling card spend in 2022 to 58% in 2024.
As of June 2025, online transactions account for 61% of activity in the category, underscoring the sector’s rapid digital transformation, with Absa noting that the surge in gambling activity also reflects broader socio-economic pressures.
Voices on the ground tell the human story behind those figures. Business Day spent the past three months investigating and interviewing self-admitted gamblers to shed light on the emerging national crisis.
Following scores of interviews focused on unemployed youth, a troubling picture emerged, pointing to how money from working relatives (colloquially called “black tax”) and the R370 social relief of distress grants (ushered in in the wake of the Covid pandemic in 2020 as a relief measure for people without any source of income) is being gambled.
“Hope does not kill. I have won several times, and lost several times as well,” said Khopotso Mokoena*, 33, from an unemployment-infested village of QwaQwa in the Free State.
Mokoena, who dropped out of school in grade 9, has never held a formal job. When asked where he gets the money from, he says from his two working brothers in Joburg.
“Ramaphosa [what the SRD grant is called in certain townships] also helps when it comes through,” Mokoena said.
When pushed on whether he keeps track of his spending versus what he is losing, Mokoena provides a sobering answer. “That exercise will distract me and force me to quit what is the real hope in my life.”
Sports betting is an activity Mokoena shares with his 23-year-old brother, Tsebo,* who started betting at the age of 19.
“I restrict myself to betting on football matches because I believe I am good at it. I began betting during Covid, as one spent a lot of time with friends indoors watching football. The highest amount I have won so far is R90,000, a few years back,” Tsebo said.
It is this R90,000 he says he won in 2023 that attracted his older brother to betting.
Khopotso has not won any significant wager yet, saying his big payday to date was R1,700, which he used to buy sneakers for his 5-year-old daughter.
Health and social services are scrambling to keep pace. Data shared with Business Day by the South African Responsible Gambling Foundation (SARGF) paints a troubling picture.
The entity has received more than 13,500 referrals of punters seeking help since 2019, including referrals by concerned family members, with the lion’s share of this in the youth bracket.
These figures include nearly 3,000 unemployed people. More concerning is that about 280 who sought help were minors.
SARGF executive director Sibongile Simelane-Quntana said authorities must face the gambling scourge head-on.
“We are particularly worried about the exposure of minors to gambling advertising. From radio promotions aired during family hours to gambling ads embedded on banking apps and search engines, we are normalising gambling for young people before they are old enough to understand the risks,” Simelane-Quntana said.
“Stronger regulation is needed to control when and how gambling is marketed, and we urge parents to activate parental controls on all digital devices to help protect children from exposure. This must become a national conversation about responsibility — both at the industry and household level.”
The SARGF has also seen a “significant” increase in the number of problem gamblers recommended for psychiatric evaluation during the 2024/25 financial year, with 27 recommended and 18 admitted, representing a 157% increase.
According to experts from professional services firm Deloitte, the high rate of joblessness among young people may help explain their involvement in online betting platforms.
“The relationship between gambling and economic hardship has become increasingly apparent,” the experts said.
“The youth are significantly more affected by unemployment, with an alarming 45.5% of people aged 15-34 being unemployed in the same period. With these factors in play, the high engagement of young people in online betting becomes more understandable.”
Betway, one of the major players in sports betting, said it had put several measures in place to ensure responsible betting by clients around the country.
The measures include deposit and spend limits to help customers manage their budgets, with the company saying it believes its “strict” age restrictions are holding up.
“It is systematically impossible for anyone under 18 to register a legitimate account. The only way an underage individual could gain access is by using the identity of someone who is 18 or older, which constitutes identity fraud and is treated as a serious offence,” it said in responses to Business Day.
Still, the infrastructure that facilitates betting could be seen as diluting those safeguards in practice. Getting access to Over-The-Top (OTT) vouchers is as easy as buying airtime, with thousands of outlets across the country, including big retail firms, fuel stations and spaza shops all selling the vouchers.
Sports betting brands Hollywoodbets and Betway dominate the space and have grown fabulously wealthy in the process. Their deep pockets are evident in the millions they have poured into advertising across multiple platforms and at key entry points such as OR Tambo, Cape Town International and King Shaka International airports.
Betway defended its advertising strategy, saying it was grounded in responsible gambling principles.
“Our marketing efforts span social media and mainstream platforms such as television, with a strong focus on education, awareness and harm minimisation,” the company said.
Hollywoodbets did not respond to requests to comment.
Backed by an advertising blitz amounting to billions of rand and the endorsement of some of SA’s biggest sports stars across the country’s popular sporting codes, sports betting has become a permanent feature in many low-income households.
Betway and Hollywoodbets support some of SA’s biggest teams and tournaments. Betway is a sponsor of the Springboks and the Sharks, and the title sponsor of the Betway SA20 cricket tournament. The crowning feature was Betway’s sponsorship of SA’s Premier Soccer League, further entrenching itself in the minds and hearts of millions of South Africans who play and follow the game.
The company has also associated itself with SA’s sporting royalty, including Springbok stars Siya Kolisi and Cheslin Kolbe, UFC champion Dricus du Plessis, 2010 Fifa World Cup star Siphiwe Tshabalala, and former captain of the SA national cricket team Graeme Smith, among a plethora of other sporting legends.
“Partnerships with sporting figures and teams are designed to celebrate the unifying power of sport while promoting participation within a regulated and responsible environment,” Betway said.
“Importantly, these collaborations also serve as platforms for responsible gaming advocacy, exemplified by our global ambassador, Thierry Henry, who features prominently in Betway’s responsible gambling campaign.”
Not to be left behind, Hollywoodbets has also amassed an impressive array of sporting icons to be brand ambassadors. These include double Rugby World Cup-winning player Eben Etzebeth. Hollywoodbets has also roped in SA’s top sporting personalities such as Robert Marawa, Carol Tshabalala, Vernon Philander, Akona Ndungane, Jerry Sikhosana and Brian Baloyi as brand ambassadors.
For good measure, Hollywoodbets has transitioned from being the title of the Durban July, to owning it in a multimillion-rand takeover.
SA’s highly indebted blue-collar workers have also been ensnared in gambling and sports betting activities, with the stigma of the activities having long fallen off.
A report by National Gambling shows that 52% of working South Africans gamble, with it being most popular among 30- to 49-year-old men.
Cosatu, the country’s largest trade union federation, has called for tighter regulation of the industry.
“It is estimated that the gambling industry generated R1.14-trillion in turnover in 2024, with South Africans spending on average R4bn a day on it. Up to 83% of gamblers are reported to be in debt as a result,” the federation’s Matthew Parks said.
“Depressing reports show a spike in social grants and NSFAS recipients turning to gambling. These are monies better spent on buying essential goods and supporting economic growth. There is space for responsible gambling and betting in society, but it must be well regulated, transparent and accountable.”
International experts are expected to descend on Johannesburg in mid-November for the Responsible Gambling Summit set to take place at Emperors Palace. The summit will bring together regulators, policymakers, industry leaders and global experts to debate and design reforms.
“Addressing gambling addiction requires acknowledging it as both a mental health and financial challenge. Finding sustainable solutions requires cross-sectoral collaboration, open dialogue, and shared responsibility across industry, regulators and civil society,” Simelane-Quntana said.
“By promoting responsible gambling practices and providing effective and accessible support systems, the industry can continue to deliver economic value while safeguarding individuals and families from harm.”
* Not their real names
