{"id":12201,"date":"2025-11-05T11:10:25","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T14:10:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/?p=12201"},"modified":"2026-04-19T12:09:06","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T15:09:06","slug":"betway-to-continue-online-casino-operations-despite-ngb-warning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/betway-to-continue-online-casino-operations-despite-ngb-warning","title":{"rendered":"Betway to continue online casino operations despite NGB warning"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Betway says the recent Supreme Court of Appeal ruling was a narrow interpretation of the Gauteng Gambling Act and does not amount to a ban on online betting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

South Africa.- Betway South Africa<\/strong> has stated that it will continue to offer online casino games despite a recent directive from the National Gambling Board (NGB)<\/strong> ordering all bookmakers to cease providing slots, roulette and other casino games.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NGB\u2019s stance on online casino offerings was bolstered by a Supreme Court ruling<\/a> which overturned the Gauteng Gambling Board\u2019s approval of the betting practice and ruled that offering roulette and other casino games online in South Africa is not legally acceptable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the ruling, the NGB directed all nine provincial gambling regulators<\/strong> to implement the decision across the country. Acting CEO Lungile Dukwana<\/strong> warned that any bookmaker continuing to offer slots, blackjack or roulette online faces a R10m<\/strong> (\u20ac500,000) fine, up to ten years in jail <\/strong>for directors and seizure of all payouts from the games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Betway SA says it will continue business as usual, despite the judgement. As of November 4, 2025<\/strong>, the online casino section on the site is still live and accessible. The company\u2019s spokesperson, David Makola<\/strong>, noted: \u201cThe recent Supreme Court of Appeal ruling was a narrow interpretation of the Gauteng Gambling Act and does not amount to a ban on online betting. We remain committed to working with regulators and government to ensure a clear, responsible and well-regulated betting environment in South Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gambling lawyer Wayne Lurie<\/strong>, representing multiple bookmakers, emphasised the distinction between national and provincial regulatory authority, saying: \u201cThe NGB cannot override provincial laws. Since Betway is licensed in provinces with differently worded laws, the games remain available until a provincial regulator intervenes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\n\t\t\tSee also:<\/span><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tSee also:<\/span> SARGF reveals speaker lineup for Responsible Gambling Summit<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Betway says the recent Supreme Court of Appeal ruling was a narrow interpretation of the Gauteng Gambling Act and does not amount to a ban on online betting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2395,"featured_media":12203,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Betway South Africa is challenging a National Gambling Board (NGB) directive to cease online casino game offerings, despite a Supreme Court of Appeal ruling that deemed such activities illegal under the Gauteng Gambling Act. Betway asserts the ruling is a narrow interpretation and does not constitute a national ban, citing provincial licensing nuances, while the NGB warns of severe penalties for non-compliance.","focusai_entities":"Betway South Africa, National Gambling Board, Supreme Court of Appeal, Gauteng Gambling Board, Lungile Dukwana, David Makola, Wayne Lurie","focusai_location":"South Africa, Gauteng","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (0.95), compliance_legal (0.95), operator_casino (0.98), affiliate_publisher (0.8), product_ux (0.7), tech_data (0.7), marketing_crm (0.8), payments_fraud_aml (0.85), investor_analyst (0.95), supplier_vendor (0.85), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Betway's Legal Strategy","query":"What specific legal arguments will Betway SA deploy to challenge the NGB's directive, particularly concerning the distinction between national and provincial gambling acts and their respective licensing authorities?"},{"label":"Regulatory Harmonization Impact","query":"How will this regulatory conflict influence the timeline and structure for a unified national online casino regulatory framework in South Africa, and what are the implications for future licensing?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[60021,60011],"tags":[60094,45,60033],"class_list":["post-12201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-igaming-news","category-south-africa","tag-legal","tag-online-gambling","tag-regulation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2395"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12201"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12201\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12225,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12201\/revisions\/12225"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}