South African Live Casinos

Here at LiveCasinos.com, we specialize in finding the best live dealer casinos in the world. That means that we focus on sites that specifically offer online casino games with real dealers, as opposed to RNG-powered games like slots.

However, almost all new gambling sites offer live gaming in one form or another. In order to qualify as a top live casino for South Africans, a site has to meet a lot of important criteria and conform to high standards of service. These standards are based on our long-standing knowledge of the industry and deep understanding of the global online gaming market.

If you’re wondering how we made our list of top South African casinos, here are the factors we considered while making our rankings:

• Licensing & safety – Although South Africa does not issue gambling licenses to online casinos, the most reliable sites are licensed by other respected authorities such as the UKGC or the MGA. Moreover, our recommended sites conform to international standards for data protection, privacy policies, and overall security.
• Game depth – Top live casinos have to offer a wide variety of live casino games, preferably from multiple software providers. The quantity and quality of these games are crucial for evaluating a platform’s live dealer offer.
• Design & Usability – A good casino site must work well across all types of devices – especially phones. This includes intuitive controls, fast loading times, and an easy-to-use interface with handy features.
• Banking – If a site wants to be accessible to South African players, it has to ensure fast and convenient payments. The best sites offer a variety of top payment options that are available in South Africa, such as Visa, PayPal, UPay, and others.
• Customer Support – Legitimate gambling sites take care to always be transparent and fair when dealing with customers. Although often overlooked, this aspect of their service is crucial for providing an enjoyable casino experience.
• Player Feedback – Our reviews also consider a site’s reputation with players. After all, if a lot of players are happy with a particular company’s offer, it must be doing something right. Conversely, bad word-of-mouth is quick to spread in the online casino community, and we strive to keep an eye on what players think about particular brands.

Is Online Gambling Legal in South Africa?

Online gambling is currently not regulated in South Africa, which puts it in a sort of legal grey area. Although not expressly prohibited, the local gambling authority does not issue licenses for remote betting, which limits the legal protections offered to players.

However, players can never get into trouble for playing casino games because the laws target operators and providers rather than players. As a result, hundreds of gambling sites of all forms offer their services to South African players, including live casinos.

Gambling Laws & Regulations

South Africa regulates gambling activities at both a national and provincial level. This means that the responsibility of regulating gambling is split between the National Gambling Board (NGB) and nine Provincial Gambling Boards.

On a national level, gambling is regulated by the National Gambling Act of 2004, along with several amendments and additional regulations which have been introduced over the years. On a provincial level, gambling regulations are outlined by the Eastern Cape Gambling and Betting Act of 1997; the Free State Gambling and Liquor Act of 2010; the Gauteng Gambling Act of 1995; the KwaZulu-Natal Gaming and Betting Act of 2010; the Limpopo Gambling Act of 2013; the Mpumalanga Gambling Act of 1995; the Northern Cape Gambling Actof 2008; the North West Gambling Act of 2001; and the Western Cape Gambling and Racing Act of 1996.

These laws typically only permit gambling if offered by a licensed operator with a license issued by the local Provincial board. The National Board oversees these provincial authorities and enforces guidelines for their regulations.

Each province has its own gambling and casino-related legislation. This means that the overall rules are quite complicated, and we advise all South Africans to check the local regulations before attempting to play at a casino.

Licensing Authorities and Procedures

As noted above, the National Gambling Board is the nationwide authority for all forms of gambling. Its duties, jurisdictions, and obligations are outlined by Chapter 3 of the National Gambling Act.

The NGB is responsible for evaluating the issuing of National Licences by the Provincial Gambling Boards and monitoring compliance with nationwide guidelines. This further allows them to revoke licenses issued by the Provincial Gambling Boards. The NGB is also responsible for conducting oversight evaluations of the performance of the Provincial Gambling Boards to ensure that their operations are in line with national norms and standards established by the Gambling Act. As per the Act, these norms must be uniform and consistent throughout South Africa.

Each Provincial Gambling Board has exclusive jurisdiction within its province to issue licenses. On top of issuing Provincial licenses, these organisations can also award National Licenses if required by the permit-holder. The Provincial Gambling Boards also have enforcement authority in their respective jurisdictions.