Online casinos accepting players from South Africa

Over the last few decades the South African online casino space has seen its fair share of changes,
and of course with it much confusion too. From parliamentary acts to countless amendment bills,
the landscape has undoubtedly left hopeful South African punters feeling frustratingly in limbo over
the country’s future for online gambling.

2016 seemed to be the year of hope and progression for South African players, the South African Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) published what was known as the National Gambling Policy draft, a document which was intended to once and for all review and put a clear stance on the gambling landscape in South Africa, unfortunately this was short-lived and nothing was ever formerly passed as a result of the notion.

Two years later, it was again the DTI who announced that it intended to bring the National Gambling Amendment Act 2018 to parliament. This amendment stemmed directly off the clauses as set out in
the original National gambling act of 2004. Now if you are unfamiliar with the original act of 2004, it
pretty much is the all-encompassing legislation summing up the status of gambling in South Africa.
It is also within this act that interactive gambling (or online gambling) was officially deemed illegal by
any means within the borders of South Africa.

Unfortunately, the amendment bill of 2018 was never officially passed, and little has changed as a
result when it relates specifically to online gambling, the notions and clause of section 11 within the
National Gambling act of 2004 remain firm, Online Gambling is illegal.

Land based casinos operating with the relevant provincial licence documentation, online sports
betting with a licensed bookmaker and lotto continues to be a legalised practise within South Africa.
While it remains an illegal activity to offer any form of interactive casino or game within South
Africa, the frustrating part as we have mentioned is that there is an obvious lack of clarity in the
current legislation, and as a result the online casino industry continues to thrive both in terms of the
number of providers offering online casino services to local players, as well as the number of South
African players taking part in online gambling.

Although there have been little to no incidents recorded regarding the prosecution of any South
African player partaking in online casino activity, we do caution all players that playing online is
always at your own risk and we do not recommend that you go against the laws as set out by your
national legislation.

Ensure that you visit our reviews section to understand exactly which online casinos have a long-
standing positive reputation, good player ratings and fair and secure payment services.

Online Casino Games available in South Africa

• Slots , jackpot slots, and video poker
• Card games - blackjack, 3-card poker, TXS Hold'em, pai gow, and baccarat
• Dice games - craps and sic bo
• Roulette - American, European, French
• Live Dealer Games - Many sites now offer live streaming games from one or more providers. The games are cast from state-of-the-art studios and real casino gaming floors, mostly in Europe.

You would be hardpressed to find a stock exchange-listed, publically traded company willing to expose itself to the gray or black market risks, but there are still some huge operators with very large casino offerings that are more than willing to take your action. In fact, South Africans have access to nearly as many games as players in the UK have - they simply don't have the same regulatory protections.

Granted you won't be able to play Thunderstruck or Avalon, even though Microgaming has its roots in South Africa. However, thanks to the advent of remote gaming systems, game aggregators, and content distribution agreements among developers, bundlers, and platform providers you can play many of the games usually found on the Microgaming Quickfire Network.

Many online platforms today use geolocation services. This means that the software "knows" you are logging in from South Africa. This allows the gaming site to only show you the games you will be able to play, so there's no disappointment when you see a familiar or fun-looking title only to click on it and be barred from play after the game has loaded.

In essence, you'll be able to play whatever you see at these technologically advanced venues. When in doubt, Realtime Gaming sites are always a good bet.

Mobile Gaming

South Africa is an increasingly mobile society. Pew Research reports that now at least half of South Africans use smartphones.

Advancements such as increased bandwidth for all mobile device users, along with internet browser coding (HTML5) have eliminated the need for installing apps or even downloading computer programs onto desktop machines in order to play every casino game out there. All games are available inside a web browser whether you access the casino on a cell phone, tablet, laptop, or desktop machine. The device operating system (iOS, Android, PC, MAC, etc.) has been rendered inconsequential. Today's slots and other games are "device agnostic".

Payment Methods and Banking

It's important for players in South Africa to be aware of the several deposit and withdrawal options available and to make wise choices when deciding on payment methods. It never hurts to ask customer service with live chat only a click away at most sites.

Again, some sites will only show you the methods available for your use and not waste your precious gambling time by displaying irrelevant information.

In most cases, you'll want to choose a site that offers the local Rand (ZAR) currency in order to avoid currency conversion fees. Another advantage is that bonuses will most likely be displayed in ZAR so you won't have to calculate "your currency equivalent" in order to maximize the offers.

One secure deposit and withdrawal method that won't usually require any conversion maths for bonus purposes is Bitcoin (BTC). The reason for this is that many operators place a high preference on the use of cryptocurrencies and may offer bonuses up to 100x higher when using a digital currency rather than fiat money.

Bitcoin as a payment method has additional advantages

National regulators have no way of knowing what you do with your money after it is converted to Bitcoin or another digital currency. It appears as Rands in your bank or another account, is converted on an exchange, and when you are done playing you can simply buy local currency with it.

Instant payouts are far more common when you use BTC. There are no banking gateways to slow the flow of the electronic transfers from your casino account to your digital wallet.

Security is very important to South African gamblers and although the blockchain itself is open to view, it is encrypted in such a way that no other entity can determine your association with the transactions. The system is also impervious to anonymous hackers.

Other easy payment methods

Aside from BTC and an eWallet such as Skrill, you may be faced with depositing with one method and withdrawing your winnings via another. While that's not always the case, many online cashier systems are set up that way for your protection as well as theirs.

Debit and credit cards, EasyEFT, and Skrill are common deposit methods. Online bank transfers and eWallets such as Skrill, Neteller, and ecoPays are common withdrawal methods. All except bank wires can be instant.

Some sites may also accept SID Instant EFT payments if you bank at ABSA, First National Bank, Nedbank, or Standard Bank.

While the list of methods above is by no means exhaustive, it should give you a good idea of ways to get your money safely and securely in and out of the casino you choose.

Author: Shelly Schiff