The National Gambling Board (NGB) is working with authorities in countries where illegal offshore gambling sites operate as it steps up efforts to shut down the digital platforms. The NGB says these sites take billions of rand from South Africa each month and worsen the country’s gambling challenges.

On Wednesday, Parliament was briefed on the board’s response to illegal, non-compliant gambling platforms. The platforms are estimated to generate around R5 trillion in turnover overall, while revenue from legal online gambling in South Africa is reported at R75 billion in 2025.

NGB officials said platforms that are not based or licensed in South Africa earn large sums from local players but typically do not pay tax in the country. A study by Yazi, an AI-powered research group, found that 57% of 1,028 respondents sacrificed essential spending to gamble, while 29% borrowed money to gamble.

Acting CEO Lungile Dukwana told Parliament’s portfolio committee on trade, industry and competition that the NGB’s approach includes updating regulations and taxes, as well as engaging with authorities in the countries where many illegal platforms operate.

“We are seeing that there are external operators … in our space, and those are not licensed in South Africa,” Dukwana said. He noted that platforms are often linked to online casinos and are offered via licensing in other jurisdictions, including Gibraltar, the Philippines, the UK, and Malta—countries that he said have been sources of the main sites found in South Africa.

He added that some countries have responded positively, and the NGB plans to continue working with them. Dukwana said the board has engaged with the UK and Malta and still needs engagement with the Philippines and Gibraltar to ask them to stop issuing licenses that allow operators to work in South Africa’s market. He said the NGB has also issued cease-and-desist letters to help halt activity.

The NGB said it is working with the department of communications, the police, and Icasa to explore blocking illegal platforms’ IP addresses. “That work is work that is in progress,” Dukwana said. The board is also working with law enforcement agencies to strengthen suppression efforts, involving SAPS and relevant provincial authorities.

Dukwana said the NGB is also engaging with the National Gambling Policy Council (NGPC). The board is preparing a report for the NGPC, which it expects to submit soon. He said the report will focus on challenges in online gambling, including bet exchanges and historical loss tracing, which he said will be discussed by the NGPC.

DA MP Toby Chance said there may be inconsistencies in how gambling platforms are regulated compared to lotteries. He also asked that Parliament be allowed to review the report before it is submitted. MK party MP Sithembile Nkosi said the NGB’s biggest risk may be insufficient technological and regulatory enforcement capacity, arguing that gambling evolves faster than the rules designed to manage it.