Overview
- National Treasury’s draft discussion paper proposes a 20% national levy on gross gambling revenue from online and interactive operators, including unlicensed ones, and it is out for public comment.
- Industry groups say stacking the levy on provincial gambling taxes and 15% VAT would push effective burdens toward 40%, risking business closures and job losses across the supply chain.
- Legal experts argue the measure oversteps constitutional limits and provincial jurisdiction, noting that interactive gambling remains unlawful because Parliament’s 2008 framework was never promulgated.
- Treasury frames the plan as harm‑reduction and cites potential revenue above R10 billion annually, while critics highlight the absence of quantified social costs, no ring‑fencing for treatment funding, and likely pass‑through to players.
- With more than 2,000 illegal operators targeting South Africans, opponents warn the levy would drive bettors to unregulated sites, as SABA presses for enforcement tools such as DNS and payment blocking, even as 107 civic and faith groups call for a national online‑betting ban.