There is something in human nature that makes us partial to taking a bit of a gamble. From Capetonians stepping outside without both sunscreen and an umbrella to marking off our lucky numbers on a Lotto card, there is some deep-seated optimism in all of us that makes us believe that today might be the day… that the weather will hold, that our numbers will appear on the colourful balls.
And of course, some ‘gambling’ is harmless fun. But the recent surge in popularity of online gambling has highlighted its dark side.
Online gambling is not new. Apparently, it was a South African company that developed the world’s first online casino software in Durban as early as 1994. Online gambling first became a major national news story locally in the early 2000s, primarily driven by the high-profile legal battle involving Piggs Peak Casino, when the Gauteng Gambling Board tried to restrict the eSwatini-based operator that was advertising heavily to South Africans. In 2011, a Supreme Court of Appeal ruling declared online gambling (interactive gaming) illegal in South Africa and Piggs Peak was forced to stop accepting South African bets.
However, online sports betting (i.e. bookmaking) is perfectly legal in South Africa. Lines become blurred though, when legal sports betting companies offer “live” or “Vegas-style” games on their platforms. While the National Gambling Board (NGB) argues these are illegal casino games, the operators argue they are “fixed-odds betting events”, which (currently) fall under their legal license.
Data from the National Gambling Board show that about R1.5 trillion was wagered in South Africa’s gambling industry in 2024–2025, nearly one-third more than the previous financial year, and the bulk of it – as well as the growth impetus – appears to be coming from online gambling.
Recognition of the impact of online gambling is coming from many quarters, including CEOs of retail companies (warning of significant spend being diverted) and the South African government, most recently the National Treasury, which is considering imposing a 20% tax on online gambling proceeds to ‘discourage problem and pathological gambling and their ill effects’.
There has been a lot of speculation around which market sectors are most affected by spending on online gambling. Trade Intelligence conducted research in late 2025, surveying more than 700 South Africans who said they’d ever played on one of the many online gambling and interactive betting sites that have sprung up. The survey uncovered some key findings.
The link to and impact on grocery spending
- Grocery spend is taking the biggest – or at least most widespread knock – from funds being diverted into online gambling. We provided a list of ten categories where online gambling money might otherwise have been spent, and respondents selected an average of 2.2 of these categories, with ‘groceries / food and household essentials’ the most chosen category, and fast food and takeaways a distant second.
Motivation to play / gamble
- The main motivation to engage with these sites isn’t excitement, entertainment or escapism – it’s to win money. Nearly two out of three players said this was ‘definitely’ a reason why they play / gamble.
- While half of these players say ‘it depends’ when asked whether they generally win or lose, most of the other half admit that they lose more than they win; 25% don’t keep track of what they spend, win or lose at all
The combination of these two findings underscores the desperation inherent in online gambling. Players are trying to ‘make money’ to buy things like groceries, but they are simultaneously jeopardising their household’s ability to afford these basic essentials by gambling with grocery money.
Interestingly, it is games like Aviator, Starburst, Sugar Rush, etc. that are driving traffic to sites like Hollywoodbets, Easybet and Yesplay – players may not even consider themselves to be ‘gamblers’.
Would a tax on winnings curb spend on online gambling sites? Or would it just put further strain on household finances? This will no doubt be debated at length. In the meantime, South African retail needs to be content with yet another constraint to its already subdued growth.
The impact of online gambling on grocery spend is one of the forces shaping South Africa’s fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) retail environment in 2026. It is examined at a market level in Trade Intelligence’s South African FMCG Retail Outlook report, and unpacked in greater shopper-level detail in the forthcoming SA FMCG Shopper Report [due to be published in the second quarter of the year.]
Written by Nicola Allen, Senior Analyst at Trade Intelligence