Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Solly Malatsi says he will engage the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) to assess whether consumers have adequate protection from online gambling and whether operators are complying with the rules.
Malatsi was responding to a question from Rise Mzansi MP Makashule Gana, who asked whether the government would introduce measures to curb the sale of gambling and betting vouchers through mobile network providers, given the prevalence of gambling and addiction in the country.
Malatsi said the National Gambling Act and provincial gambling laws provide the regulatory and licensing framework for gambling and betting. He also recognized the need to protect South Africans from the social and economic harm associated with irresponsible gambling. However, he said a mobile network or platform does not automatically bring a gambling product under ICASA’s authority.
“Where a mobile network or mobile platform is used merely as a channel through which a consumer purchases or accesses a betting or gambling voucher, this does not in itself make the underlying gambling product an electronic communications service regulated by ICASA,” he said.
Malatsi said he would discuss with ICASA what measures could be taken within the regulator’s mandate when communications networks and services are used to provide access to gambling products. This would include assessing whether existing consumer-protection measures are adequate and whether further action is warranted.
ICASA regulates its licensees when their conduct involves the provision of an electronic communications service or a premium-rated service covered by the Electronic Communications Act and the authority’s regulations. For example, ICASA’s Code of Conduct for Premium Rated Services applies to electronic communications service and network service licensees.
It requires them to ensure that third-party providers offering premium-rated services over their networks meet prescribed consumer-protection standards. Malatsi said any safeguards for gambling and betting vouchers would depend on how the service is structured and whether it falls within ICASA’s jurisdiction. Gambling laws and regulations, meanwhile, continue to determine the minimum age for lawful participation.
“More broadly, the department [of communications] has a responsibility to help ensure that South Africa’s digital environment is safe, responsible and contributes positively to the social and economic wellbeing of its citizens,” Malatsi said.
He added that his department would work with ICASA and the authorities responsible for gambling regulation to address harmful practices facilitated through digital platforms and communications networks. Since entering Parliament in June 2024, Gana has campaigned for stricter gambling regulation to help curb addiction. In January 2025, he warned that South Africa was facing a gambling crisis.
Citing figures from the National Gambling Board’s annual report, Gana said South Africans spent R1.1 trillion on gambling during the 2023/24 financial year. He said the amount was evidence of a crisis. Gana has also called for national-level regulation and taxation of the industry. The National Gambling Board reported that gambling activity reached R1.5 trillion in the 2024/25 financial year, an increase of R400 billion from the previous year.
