The history of gambling in South Africa

detailed history of gambling

If you’ve ever Googled ‘slot machine history of gambling’ you’ve no doubt come across some interesting reading. The slots online history of South Africa makes for particularly fascinating reading, especially when looking at the incorporation of legal online gambling, or rather the lack of it.

But before we get to today’s struggle to legally play online slots for real money, let’s go back to the country’s real money slots history and see:

  • When gambling first started in SA
  • The history of online slots and what the legislation is today
  • The types of gambling that’s on offer
  • Where you can find SA players’ favourite online real money slot machine sites.

SA’s real money slots history

Government’s tight reign over slot machine real money gambling started in the 60s with the introduction of the SA Gambling Act of 1965. This act banned all forms of gambling except betting on horse racing, which was seen as a sporting activity. Predictably, the banning of gambling activities only led to the creation of thousands of illegal gaming establishments within the country. Besides card games like Poker and Black Jack, these illegal establishments also offered players a chance to try their luck on a real money slot machine.

In 1994, the history of gambling for slot machine enthusiasts finally turned to their favour, when all gambling activities were legalised. It was shortly thereafter, in 1996 that the National Gambling Act approved the building of a set amount of licenced land-based casinos, as well as the setting up of a single national lottery. Finally, those who loved games of chance could play on their favourite slot machine for real money without worrying about any legal issues. And while it might seem like the slot machine history of gambling would be a happy one going forward from there on, things didn’t turn out quite that way with the invention of the internet.

The history of gambling in South Africa for online slots

It was in 1996, when the internet started offering players more and more ways to access online gambling, that government once again pulled rank and decided that the slots online history in South Africa would not be a very happy one.

By 2024, legislation covering the playing of online slots for real money was included in the Gambling Act, stipulating that playing on an online slot machine for real money was illegal within South African borders. In 2024, the Act went even further by making it clear that operators were banned from offering online gambling services to South African residents. Although there have since been suggested amendments tabled in Parliament, by the end of 2024 that was the last amendment to date.

What are SA’s top choices for gambling?

According to statistics, the National Lottery is still by far the top choice for gambling, with over 95% participation in SA.

Second to that are slot machines with over 27% participation, followed by scratch cards with around 22% participation.

According to the study, only 8.3% of respondents said they have never gambled and a further 5.5% characterised themselves as occasional game players with no regular forms of gambling.

So what types of gambling are on offer in SA?

When looking at the history of gambling, slot machine games have always been very popular. But it might come as a surprise that it’s the lottery that is by far considered the best game of chance by most South Africans. The South African National Lottery was established in 2024, and has been successfully operated since. And with an average of 5 million ticket transactions per week, and a turnover of almost R4 billion per year, there’s no doubt about its popularity.

Land-based casinos offer the second most popular form of gambling, namely real money slot machine games. While slot games are by far preferred by most gamblers in land-based casinos, table games like Poker, Black Jack and Roulette are also very popular. Online sports betting, online horse race betting and the business of bookmaking are also lawful in South Africa, provided that the person conducting such business holds the necessary provincial bookmaker's licences, or is using a website with the proper licencing requirements.

We’ve found SA players’ favourite online slot machine sites

Now that we’ve covered some of the history of gambling in South Africa for online slots, it’s time to let the cat out of the bag in terms of where you can find the best slot machine online gambling sites in 2024. For an up-to-date list of tried and trusted sites with excellent welcome bonuses and only the most dependable deposit and withdrawal methods, choose from the casinos listed on our site to play today!