South Africa Online Roulette Guide – Roulette Sites, Laws and More!
Gambling is a hugely popular activity in South Africa and more and more South Africans are opting for casinos. In fact, according to PwC’s fifth annual edition of the gaming industry outlook for South Africa: 2016-2020, published in 2017, PwC stated that while casinos are by far the largest component of the gambling market in South Africa, online sports betting is rapidly catching up. With this has come the proliferation of online roulette casinos in South Africa, too. Although these are not allowed in the country by law, learn more about the South African gambling laws! Stay with us and keep reading our guide.
Our comprehensive review will take you through all the stages related to online roulette gambling in South Africa, with a particular focus on the top roulette sites in the country. Here, you’ll find whether you can legally access roulette sites in South Africa, and which are the best RNG and live dealer games. In addition to this, we’ll take you introduce to further gambling details such as payment methods, safety and fairness of the operators, and how to navigate the South African online gambling environment. If you feel that you would like to simply jump to a specific section, feel free to use our quick navigation menu above and it will take you directly to the area that interests you.
Can You Play at Online Roulette South Africa Casinos?
Technically speaking, there are many excellent roulette online sites that South Africans could access. We must note, however, that all forms of online gambling in the country are illegal. Thus, we would strongly discourage you from joining any online casinos at the moment. Yet, shall the situation change in the future, you can choose an operator based on established criteria.
For starters, we look at the game selection. How wide is it? How many games are offered? Are the games RNG-tested? What about the live dealer games? How many are there and what kind of quality do they offer? Moreover, do they offer enough variety? Next, we get to grips with the bonuses. Many casinos offer their first-time players a welcome bonus, but some are simply better than the others in terms of the wagering requirements. Moving on, as online casino roulette operators are starting to cater to their mobile followers increasingly, we look at the mobile-friendliness of the casinos and see whether there are any apps that need to be downloaded.
Gamble Responsibly
- Only gamble with money you can afford to lose.
- Set spending limits and stick to them.
- Avoid gambling when emotional or under the influence.
- Only bet on familiar gambling games after you learn their rules.
- Contact problem gambling organizations if concerned about gambling habits.
Top Roulette Online Games in South Africa
Just like most countries that have had access to online gambling, South Africans have had the chance to enjoy a number of outstanding roulette online games. Most casinos that accept players from the country, offer excellent RNG and live dealer roulette variations. Yet, we must remind you that we are basing our information on pure observations and research. Even though roulette games might have gained a certain popularity in South Africa, they are currently illegal to play online.
Mobile Online Roulette Games in South Africa
Most offshore online casino roulette sites that accept players from South Africa offer convenient mobile versions of their sites. According to South African laws, however, all forms of gambling, including online and mobile playing remain illegal. Furthermore, according to our information all Internet Service Providers (ISP) in the country will soon start blocking access to most international roulette sites. Thus, unfortunately, players will not have the opportunity to play roulette online games on the go, unless the law changes in the future.
Gambling in South Africa
In this section, we’ll give you an overview of the industry and the relationship between gambling and online roulette South Africa casinos. Let’s start with the leading piece of legislation that oversees gambling in South Africa, which is the National Gambling Act of 2004. This piece of legislation prohibited both offering interactive gambling services and engaging in interactive games or games on the Internet. This rule applies to all online operators, licensed in any jurisdiction. What should be kept in mind, however, is that interactive gambling relates specifically to games such as casino, poker, and bingo.
Online sports betting, online horse race betting, and bookmaking is lawful in South Africa, provided that the person conducting such a business is properly licensed for this purpose and holds the necessary licenses. Four years after the National Gambling Act of 2004, came the National Gambling Amendment Act of 2008, which was an “attempt to legalise interactive gambling in the country and make provisions of the regulation of this market.” This Act hasn’t come into force as yet.
Two years later, on 20 August 2010, online gambling offered through servers located outside the country was banned in South Africa. This decision was the result of the North Gauteng High Court judgment on the “jurisdiction of online gambling transactions in the country.” As a result, “both offering gambling services online and gambling online became illegal.” Exceptions to this rule are province-licenced horse racing and online sports betting. Roulette online casinos, individuals, internet service providers and banks that process payments for online gamblers are subject to a fine of R10 million, or 10 years’ imprisonment or both.
Moreover, mass media channels which transmit or facilitate the advertisement of online gambling services are also to be held liable. Therefore, online gambling is against the law in South Africa, even if the operator is based outside the country. As for the regulatory body overseeing gambling in South Africa, this is the National Gambling Board, which is “responsible for the oversight and regulation in the gambling industry throughout the country and to preserve the integrity of South Africa as a responsible global citizen.” Its strategic intent is to sustain and grow its regulatory capability to position South Africa as the pre-eminent jurisdiction with an exemplary and effectively regulated gambling industry.
- National Gambling Act of 2004
- National Gambling Amendment Act of 2008
- North Gauteng High Court
- National Gambling Board
Safety and Licensing Bodies
The licensing body that regulates gambling in South Africa is the National Gambling Board (NGB). Provincial governments issue licenses to casinos and the NGB ensures that the industry is effectively regulated. However, since the legal landscape in terms of online gambling in South Africa is so tricky, it means that online operators offering their services to South African players will be regulated elsewhere. Let’s talk about these foreign jurisdictions in some more detail here.
First of all, starting with Casino Las Vegas, which operates under ElectraWorks Limited, is licensed by the Government of Gibraltar and is regulated by the Gibraltar Gambling Commissioner under the Gambling Act of 2005. ElectraWorks Limited has been granted a fixed-odds license and a casino license for the operation of remote gambling.
As for Sloty, this online operator has been licensed by the UK Gambling Commission and the Malta Gaming Authority, while Casino.com – our top online roulette casino operator in South Africa – has been licensed by the UK Gambling Commission. Each of these organisations is an authority in their respective jurisdictions and ensure that the fairness of the games and payments at the casino are well-regulated.
- National Gambling BoardThis is the South African licensing body that regulates gambling in South Africa.
- UK Gambling Commission The UK Gambling Commission issues licenses to online casino operators, enabling them to function legally. The agency verifies if the casino operator offers safe and fair gaming.
- Malta Gaming Authority The Malta Gaming Authority, just like the UKGC, also issues licenses to online casino operators.
- eCOGRA eCOGRA is an independent non-profit organisation which audits the security and safety of online casinos.
- Government of Gibraltar All gambling operations in Gibraltar require licensing. Remote gambling licenses are issued by this authority.
Famous Resorts
After observing the top roulette online sites in SA, now we reach the famous gambling resorts or casinos in the country. This is an interesting topic to present to you because there are so many options to choose from. There are casinos in the Western Cape, in Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Kwa-Zulu Natal, and other provinces, however, the one casino that stood apart from the rest was the popular Sun City Resort and Casino.
It was established in 1979 and boasts four hotels, over 850 slot machines and nearly 40 gaming tables for blackjack, American roulette, stud poker, and Punto Baccarat. It is situated in the middle of the bush close to the Pilanesberg Mountains in the North West province, which is about a two hours’ drive from Johannesburg. It is a Las Vegas-style resort at which visitors can also enjoy the beauty of nature through a wonderful safari as the casino offers its very own private game reserve.
| Details about Sun City in South Africa | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Company: | Sun International |
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| Founded: | 1979 | |||
| Address: | R556, Sun City, North West Province, South Africa | |||
| Licence number: | N/A | |||
| Phone: | +27 14 557 1000 | |||
| Working Hours: | 24/7 | |||
Sun City ResortFamous South African Gamblers
Mark Vos Poker PlayerMark Vos is a 35-year-old South African poker player also known by the name as ‘pokerbok’. He was born in Cape Town in 1983 and excelled at mathematics whilst at school. He later took his maths skills and channelled them into a new hobby – that of playing poker. In fact, he quit university in order to pursue his newfound passion whereafter he soon started playing no-limit games and “quickly earned a solid reputation as one of the best poker players in the world.”
One of the highlights of his career was when he won Event 6 at the 2006 World Series of Poker, where he outlasted over 1900 players and won the tidy sum of $803,274 together with a gold bracelet. In 2011, he decided to take a break from poker for various reasons, one of these being that he did not enjoy losing while at the same time his opponents were adjusting to the demands of the game better than he was.
FAQ’s About Online Roulette South Africa Casinos
After covering all the important aspects of online casino roulette sites in South Africa, it’s time to provide our readers with the most popular queries on the subject below. Make sure to check our instructive section as it might be helpful for your gameplay!
Conclusion: Online Gambling Remains Forbidden in South Africa
To sum up, even though South Africans may have access to offshore online roulette sites, signing up to such is highly inadvisable as online gambling in the country remains illegal. South Africa maintains rather conservative politics towards gambling and the potential negative effect it could have on people’s lives. To avoid potential legal complications, we advise you to restrain from playing any roulette online games. Meanwhile, we will keep you up to date and will let you know if the situation changes.