Every so often, a technology moves faster than the rules meant to govern it. Gambling in South Africa is a textbook case — it is an industry that has migrated from casino floors and betting shop counters to smartphone screens in the space of a decade, while the regulations meant to protect players have barely moved at all.
For consumers, this evolution offers greater convenience, more choice and access to a competitive market from anywhere. But digital accessibility cuts both ways. The same frictionless experience that benefits the recreational player can accelerate harmful behaviour in those with problem gambling tendencies.
As an industry we need to take this seriously. In South Africa licenced operators carry substantial responsibility to protect their players by building safeguards into products and through contributions to the National Responsible Gambling Programme, which provides counselling and public education infrastructure to prevent customers from losing control of their play.
I believe we can do even more, which is why we are working on a comprehensive responsible gambling charter that commits our company to implementing substantive player protection measures that go far beyond what is required by law.
However, Sun International can do only so much on its own; the playing field needs to be the same for everyone.
Industry commitments can also only go so far without a regulatory framework that matches them. In parliament recently minister of trade, industry & competition Parks Tau correctly pointed out that regulations are outdated and have not kept pace with the significant changes in the industry over the past decade. He announced that a national gambling amendment bill is being advanced to change this, with a gambling technical committee now established to align national and provincial gambling laws.
The risk of trading one failure for another
A well-regulated, well-resourced, licensed industry, with robust consumer protections and harmonised legislation, is the goal we should all strive for, and we welcome a frank, honest dialogue on how to get there. At the same time, that dialogue must be conducted carefully: the risk is trading one failure for another, replacing a regulatory vacuum with regulatory overreach that harms more than it helps.
International experience shows what happens when stricter rules are devised without industry input. When regulation is layered on top of increased taxation, without regard for how the market actually behaves, it creates friction for licenced operators, and every point of friction is an opening for illegal, unregulated platforms to compete on the one thing they don’t have to worry about: compliance.
Players don’t stop gambling when rules tighten; they simply move to where the experience remains frictionless, and increasingly that means turning to offshore and unlicenced operators who pay no tax and offer no protection at all.
In Kenya punitive online betting taxes introduced in 2019 caused the country’s major licenced operators to shut down. By 2020 the government was forced to reverse course entirely because the taxes had achieved the opposite of their intent.
In the Netherlands a new regulatory framework introduced in late 2024 featuring increased taxes, deposit limits and advertising restrictions has caused the channelisation rate to plummet. This rate measures how much gambling activity takes place with licenced, regulated operators, and the Netherlands Gambling Authority confirmed in April 2026 that nearly half of all gross gaming revenue has migrated to unregulated platforms. New data released in June by the Dutch ministry of finance and the gambling authority also show that yields from increased taxes were much lower than expected.
An offshore racket
During the National Gambling Board’s recent briefing to parliament it confirmed that illegal offshore platforms licenced in Gibraltar, Malta and the Philippines are operating freely in the South African market. These operators channel billions of rands out of the country, pay no taxes and offer no player protection.
Recent steps to block the IP addresses of illegal offshore platforms are an encouraging sign that regulators recognise where the real threat lies. However, the US and China have shown that this is not enough, as where one is shut down another simply pops up.
South Africa does not have to repeat mistakes made in other jurisdictions. By implementing a regulatory framework that provides licenced operators with tangible benefits for holding a licence, South Africa can reverse the effect of illegal operators.
The examples in Kenya and the Netherlands are not an argument against regulation, but rather an argument for getting regulation right and doing so in genuine partnership with the industry that understands its dynamics best.
Sun International is ready to play its part. We remain committed to responsible gambling, robust compliance and being an operator this country can be proud of. Sun International is a founding member of the South African National Responsible Gambling Foundation and continues to seek out and implement measures to protect vulnerable groups, such as children and problem gamblers. We have also co-founded an industry body for gambling operators to help develop better regulations.
We look forward to contributing to a national discussion about how best to regulate online gaming in a way that benefits everybody. In the coming weeks and months we hope to engage directly with important stakeholders, including minister Tau and his team. The shared goal of a well-regulated industry that protects players, generates revenue for the state and crowds out illegal operators is best achieved together.
Ulrik Bengtsson is CEO of Sun International
