South Africa’s National Treasury wants to slap a 20% national tax on online betting, a wake-up call as online betting morphs into a social headache for the country. The thing is, online betting companies already pay provincial gambling taxes, but Treasury now wants a national layer, collected by the South African Revenue Service (SARS).

What does this mean? Gamblers, betting companies, and onlookers should expect tighter compliance, greater reporting requirements, and higher operating costs in the betting sector. Platforms offering illegal interactive games, including online slots, roulette, and blackjack, could also be taxed despite those products being outlawed. The Treasury’s logic is that if it’s happening anyway, tax it and curb harm.

Has everyone suddenly had enough of online gambling? Three weeks ago, Kenya introduced the Gambling Control Act, 2025, which gives the newly created Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA) the power to impose a built-in deduction on every wager. In October, South Africa ruled that online gambling, including games like roulette wheels, poker, and blackjack, is banned. Benin Republic has also begun to collect a 10% levy on the gross turnover of all land-based gambling activities and a 25% tax on online gambling winnings.

What is South Africa’s endgame? To slow down problem gambling, which, according to the Treasury, affects about a third of local punters. The country wants to make gambling less invisible and far less attractive to those already on the edge. Could this actually pull the brakes on online betting?