South Africa’s NGB pushes ahead with illegal online gambling blocking plan as 4 September 2026 EOI deadline nears

South Africa’s National Gambling Board (NGB) is looking for a provider to monitor, block, track and report illegal online gambling sites aimed at local consumers. For PSPs and acquiring teams, the interesting part is not the headline itself, but the fact that the board is trying to build a repeatable enforcement mechanism rather than a one-off clean-up.

1. The expression of interest was published on 30 June and amended on 17 July, with the closing date moved from 7 August to 4 September 2026 after a briefing session for prospective bidders on 15 July.
2. The scale of the problem is material. Research commissioned by the South African Bookmakers’ Association (SABA) from Yield Sec says roughly 62% of online gambling activity in South Africa is handled by illegal operators, and more than R50 billion ($3.1 billion) in gross gambling revenue flows offshore each year.
3. Acting chief executive Lungile Dukwana told parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Trade, Industry and Competition in June that no national policy position on interactive gambling had been finalised, and that South Africa still needs a legal framework for online gambling. The NGB is also engaging the National Gambling Policy Council on the issue.
4. In practice, the proposed service goes beyond simple domain blocking. The provider would profile illegal gambling websites targeting South Africans, including country of origin, licence status and ownership, then block identified sites, report them to the NGB for referral to law enforcement, and keep tracking them so the board can block them again if they reappear.
5. The NGB is grounding the exercise in the National Gambling Act and says it has a duty to help provincial licensing authorities detect unlicensed gambling. Interactive gambling remains illegal in South Africa, and the 2008 National Gambling Amendment Act, which was meant to create a licensing regime for interactive gambling, never came into operation.

The EOI makes one thing clear: the NGB is not asking for a one-time takedown. It wants a standing capability that can respond “each time illegal operators try to offer illegal gambling to local punters,” which is the part that matters for processors, acquirers and banks watching their exposure to South African traffic.