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Best Online Casino South Africa

What's the online gambling situation in South Africa and how do you determine the best online casino in South Africa? Unfortunately, these are not easy questions to answer thanks to the difficult and constantly changing laws in the region. However, don't worry! Right here you'll find everything you need to know about South African online casino sites in terms of the current situation and what's expected in the (hopefully!) near future.

You'll also get some excellent tips and advice on how to pin-point the best South Africa online casino for you by checking out important factors like welcome offers, range of games, mobile compatibility and more. Read on to learn more.

Top Rated South Africa Casino Sites

Top South African Online Casinos

Whilst there are legal restrictions in place, it that doesn't mean that there aren't any online casinos that serve players in South Africa!

Which is the best paying online casino South Africa residents can play at? Look at our list of top South African online casinos and see which one suits you best:

Want to learn more about online casinos in South Africa? Read our comprehensive coverage of everything there is to know about the South Africa online casino industry and you'll be fully clued up about the current legal situation, how to play at online casinos as a South Africa resident, what kind of games you can play, and much more.

How to play safe in South African online casinos

Playing Safe South African Online Casinos

Safety is paramount when it comes to playing at online casinos to prevent your sensitive data falling into the wrong hands and potentially resulting in loss of money. There are a number of ways you can prevent this from happening, ensuring a safe and enjoyable online gaming experience!

The first thing to check is the law in your country, specifically regarding online gambling. We'll take a closer look at this as it pertains to South Africa in a separate section later, but it's definitely recommended to brush up on the legal aspect of online casinos in South Africa so you know where you stand and exactly what the law dictates.

Various other factors can help you ascertain the safety of an online casino, including whether the site in question holds a legitimate licence from an issuing authority, if they offer trusted payment methods, whether or not they carry out player ID checks to prevent fraud and if they have a proper set of T&Cs, a Privacy Policy and a complaints procedure.

The safest online casinos tick all of these boxes and more, providing a safe and secure environment in which to play and win!

Our Favourite South Africa's Online Casinos 2021

If the thought of trawling through hundreds of online casinos to find one that's legitimate, is available to South African residents, offers a good welcome bonus, hosts loads of quality games, presents players with rewarding promos and allows deposits using your favourite payment methods, fills you with dread, then you're in the right place!.

Take a look at the legitimate and respectable online casinos that have made our coveted list. We've scrutinised these casinos thouroughly to make sure they are trustworthy places to play. Take your pick from any of these and we're certain you'll have a positive experience:

Ranking
Casino
Bonus Available
Min. Deposit
Average Payout
Mobile Option
Free Play

1
Rizk
€100
€10
96.3%
Y
Y
2
LeoVegas
€2.500
€10
92.8%
Y
Y
3
888 
€1.500
€10
95.6%
Y
Y
4
Jackpot Village
€500
€10
92.7%
Y
Y
5
Genesis
€1.000
€10
94.2%
Y
Y

If you want to learn a little more before you get stuck in, keep reading for more info on payment methods, the legalities of online casino gaming in South Africa, top games as judged by South African players, and lots more.

Casino Payment Methods in South Africa

While welcome bonuses, on-going offers and game selection tend to be the top factors in everyone's mind when looking for a suitable online casino in which to play, the availability of compatible payment methods is actually one of the most important. After all, what good is an online casino if you can't deposit at it?

As a South Africa resident, you'll probably be looking for online casinos that allow you to deposit using the methods with which you are most familiar. You'll be pleased to know that there are indeed online casinos out there that accept payment methods commonly used in South Africa.

Perhaps the most common payment method in South Africa, as in other parts of the world, is Visa, followed closely by Mastercard, and these are commonly accepted at online casinos. A number of other payment methods found worldwide that are commonly used in South Africa to play online casino games include Entropay, Skrill, Neteller and ecoPayz.

In terms of more South Africa specific payment methods, you'll find online casinos offering EasyEFT and SID Instant EFT, which allow you to quickly and easily transfer funds from your South African bank to your online casino of choice.

PayPal Casinos
PayPal Casinos
Credit Cards
Credit Cards
Bank Transfer Casinos
Bank Transfer Casinos
Bitcoin Casinos
Bitcoin Casinos

So here's the big question! Is it actually legal to play at online casinos in South Africa? When you consider that gambling at land-based casinos in South Africa is perfectly legal, it is easy to assume that online casinos would be accepted in equal measure. However, this is not the case, as online gambling is actually illegal within the borders of South Africa.

However, this kind of wording has resulted in a few offshore online casinos, that is, those not based in South Africa, offering the ability to play in Rand and accepting players from South Africa. It should be noted that following a 2010 amendment, this was also deemed to be illegal by SA.

While it's a bit of a tricky question to answer, ultimately the decision is down to you. The SA government has threatened to start taking action against offshore online casinos that accept South African players, but it hasn't happened yet. On the plus side, an amendment to allow online casino gaming in the country was actually passed back in 2008 but was never enacted, which leaves many players feeling hopeful that the freedom to choose will be available in the near future.

Favourite Games by South African Players

The South Africa online casino sites that are available out there offer a huge variety of top-quality games from some of the biggest providers in the industry. These range from vibrant video slots with multiple paylines and an abundance of themes, to traditional table games with outcomes determined by RNGs, to the most exquisite live streaming real dealer games.

Here are a few of the favourites enjoyed by South African players:

how-to-find-the-best-south-african-online-casinos

Finding the Best Online Casino in SA

So how do you go about finding the best online casino in South Africa? Well firstly, you have to consider what makes an online casino the best. Some will say it's the range of games on offer, while others will claim it's the most generous welcome bonus that determines an online casino's reputation.

However, in reality, it comes down to a combination of several factors and each of them may carry more or less weight with you personally. Take a look at the following five factors we think you should consider when deciding whether or not to try an online casino. You may find that some of these are more important to you than others, but an online casino that scores highly in all of these areas should make your shortlist.

Wide Game Selection

One of the factors that people tend to give a lot of weight to is the range of games on offer at the online casino in question. This might be a little tricky to determine at first, but a good start is to check the bottom of the website for the intro text as that will usually mention how many games are in their collection.

However, it's not all about quantity! Having tons of games to explore is all fine and well, but not so great if those games are all of poor quality. One way to prevent signing up at an online casino with masses of poor-quality games is to look for the providers that contribute their creations to the games collection. What you want to see is a good range of well-known providers such as NetEnt, Evolution, Pragmatic Play, Playtech, Microgaming, Play'n GO and others. Their games are top-notch, guaranteeing you an excellent gaming experience.

Also, look at the types of games on offer. Slots are usually the most common games available, but a sign of a good online casino is the presence of classic table games too, not to mention a live dealer games collection. You may even find additional games such as bingo, keno, dice games and virtual sports.

South Africa Focused Support

Support is one of those things that only tends to come into sharp focus when you run into difficulties so it pays to check out the standard of support on offer before you sign up at an online casino. But what should you look out for?

Support can come in many forms, but the first step that most players take is consulting the site's FAQs section to find answers on their own. Look for a detailed set of questions and answers in various categories, including deposits and withdrawals, and check you agree with them before signing up.

No-one really wants to have to contact customer service, but sometimes it's inevitable. If the need does arise, it's important to be able to reach someone in a way and at a time that best suits you, therefore most casinos offer customer support 24/7. Should you need to contact the customer support team, there are multiple ways of doing so:

  • Phone- some casinos offer toll-free phone support for certain countries. Phone support is not usually available 24/7.
  • Live Chat- to access the live chat function, look for a button towards the bottom corners of the casino site. This customer support service is available 24/7 at many casinos.
  • Email- you can contact a casino via an email address or through a contact form. Sometimes this is not offered 24/7, it depends on the casino.
  • Social Media- recently casinos have started to be available via a customer support social media account.

You can find out which customer support methods your preferred casino offers in the contact us/ customer support page.

Welcome offers in south african online casinos

Excellent Welcome Offers

Online casinos have a tendency to put a lot of focus on their welcome bonus or package and it's for good reason as this can be the deciding factor when joining an online casino. Welcome bonuses come in all shapes and sizes. Some consist of a bonus amount as a percentage of your first deposit, others offer free spins, and still others present a combination of these. You might even be lucky enough to find an online casino South Africa no deposit bonus offer, where you don't even need to deposit to get funds to play with!

When it comes to welcome bonuses, you need to think about what kind of player you are as that will determine what kind of bonus will suit you best. For example, if you prefer to play live dealer casino, a welcome bonus that gives you free spins on deposit is not going to be of much use to you! On the other hand, a welcome package offering a bonus and free spins might be perfect if you're into playing a wide range of games.

As you consider a site's welcome offer, be sure to also pay close attention to the terms and conditions as these will tell you what you can and can't do, and what you must do before you can withdraw your winnings.

No Deposit Bonuses
No Deposit Bonuses
Free Spins SA Bonuses
Free Spins SA Bonuses
Cashback Bonuses
Cashback Bonuses
New SA Casino Bonuses
New SA Casino Bonuses

Top Notch Casino Software

How do you determine if an online casino is running good quality software? It can be a bit tricky but there are a few ways to find out. Firstly, take a look at the bottom of the site in question and see if the name of the platform provider is featured there. Though it quite often isn't, the platform provider can offer you some insight into the performance of the games.

Another way to judge the performance and quality of an online casino is simply to play the games! This may seem like a no-brainer but many players sign up before even trying the games to see if they play as expected. To help you test the site's software, many online casinos allow you to play the games for free without having to sign up first. Use this to your advantage by playing several games in demo mode and observe how they work, from how long they take to open to how the gameplay performs. Also take note of any difference between desktop and mobile versions of the site.

South African Online Casinos on Smartphones

Speaking of mobile gameplay, the ability to play online casino games on your smartphone or tablet is becoming increasingly more common as a reaction to increased demand. Both games developers and online casino platform providers have worked hard to keep up with changing trends in this respect. As a result, you'll find that nearly all modern online casinos allow you to access the site and play the games directly from your mobile devices simply by visiting the website. Responsively designed websites give you optimal performance based on the device you're visiting from without the need to download anything.

If, on the other hand, you prefer to have a standalone app that you can download and install on your Android or iOS mobile device, many online casinos do have that option. Standalone apps tend to have their own mobile-friendly design with larger buttons and easier to access menus for a more streamlined experience.

When it comes to playing the games on smaller devices, many titles these days are supported, thanks to developers creating their games in HTML5 and other mobile supported formats.

You can even access all the banking features on your mobile devices so you can easily deposit, play and withdraw all in one place.

history-of-online-gambling-in-south-africa

History of Gambling in SA

Gambling in South Africa has traditionally been frowned upon, with heavy restrictions in place since around 1673. In 1965 the South Africa's Gambling Act was passed officially banning all forms of gambling with the exception of betting on horse racing, which was regarded as a sporting activity. Of course, an outright ban just drove the industry underground and by 1995 there were an estimated 2,000 illegal casinos operating in the country.

In an about-turn, the new government in 1994 legalised all forms of gambling, with licensed casinos and a national lottery arriving in 1996 under the National Gambling Act. This led to the establishment of the National Gaming Board for overseeing the regulation of the gambling industry. Amendments to the 1996 legislation were made in 2004 and 2008, with the latter promising online casino activity would be made legal. Though it was passed, it was never enacted, leaving the issue of online casino gaming in something of a limbo. Despite the 2010 amendment ruling that offering and playing of online casino games at online casinos outside of the SA jurisdiction was also illegal, there is hope that the 2008 Act could still come into effect after a high court ruling appeal is heard.

Land-Based Casinos in South Africa

There are 12 land-based casinos in Croatia. Click on read more to find the full list.

Emerald Resort & Casino

Silverstar Casino

Montecasino

  • Area: 2400m²
  • Currency: Croatian Kuna
  • Entry Cost: Free entry
  • Min. Age: 18 years
  • Payment Methods: Cash, Visa & Mastercard
  • Facilities: Hotel, Restaurant, Casino
  • Phone:  +27 11 662 7300 
  • Email: NA
  • Website: www.tsogosun.com/montecasino

Gold Reef City Casino

Emperors Palace Casino

Carnival City Casino

Time Square Casino

GrandWest Casino

Garden Route Casino

Mykonos Casino

Blackrock Casino

  • Area: 2700m²
  • Currency: Croatian Kuna
  • Entry Cost: Free entry
  • Min. Age: 18 years
  • Payment Methods: Cash, Visa & Mastercard
  • Facilities: Casino
  • Phone: +27 34 328 1777
  • Email: NA
  • Website: www.tsogosun.com

Umfolzi Hotel Casino

Suncoast Casino

  • Area: 4100m²
  • Currency: Croatian Kuna
  • Entry Cost: Free entry
  • Min. Age: 18 years
  • Payment Methods: Cash, Visa & Mastercard
  • Facilities: Hotel, Restaurant, Casino
  • Phone: +27 31 328 3000
  • Email: NA
  • Website: www.tsogosun.com

Sibaya Casino

Golden Horse Casino

  • Area: 1800m²
  • Currency: Croatian Kuna
  • Entry Cost: Free entry
  • Min. Age: 18 years
  • Payment Methods: Cash, Visa & Mastercard
  • Facilities: Hotel, Restaurant, Casino
  • Phone: +27 33 395 8000
  • Email: NA
  • Website: www.tsogosun.com

Meropa Casino

Khoroni Hotel Casino

Thaba Moshate Casino

Ridge Casino

Graceland Hotel Casino

Emnotweni Casino

Desert Palace Casino

Flamingo Casino

Frontier Casino

Goldfields Casino

  • Area: 1800m²
  • Currency: Croatian Kuna
  • Entry Cost: Free entry
  • Min. Age: 18 years
  • Payment Methods: Cash, Visa & Mastercard
  • Facilities: Casino
  • Phone: +27 57 391 5700
  • Email: NA
  • Website: www.suninternational.com

Hemingways Casino

  • Area: 1800m²
  • Currency: Croatian Kuna
  • Entry Cost: Free entry
  • Min. Age: 18 years
  • Payment Methods: Cash, Visa & Mastercard
  • Facilities: Casino
  • Phone: +27 43 707 7777
  • Email: NA
  • Website: www.suninternational.com

Broadwalk Casino

Wild Coast Sun Casino

Queens Casino and Hotel

    Is it legal to gamble in South Africa?

    Unfortunately, it's not a straightforward answer! The National Gambling Board of South Africa currently oversees the regulation of 40 licence holders across the various provinces of the country, which were issued following the National Gambling Act in 1996. However, it's important to note that a distinction is made between sports betting and other forms of gambling such as casino, poker and bingo, with sports betting being a legal form of gambling in SA while the rest are not.At present, it is illegal to play online casino games for real money within South Africa, and that holds true whether the online casino itself is based within South Africa or not. Having said that, there is still the possibility that online casino gaming could be legalised, as was attempted by the passing of the National Gambling Amendment Act in 2008. While it was opposed at the time, a high court appeal will determine if it can be fully enacted, which would legalise the online casino gaming industry in the country.

    Which is the best South African online casino?

    The best South African online casino is the one that ticks all your boxes! Look for an online casino that offers a wide variety of quality games from a healthy selection of top games providers. You'll also want to make sure that the online casino in question holds a proper authority issued licence. Make sure only trusted payment methods are accepted and that the casino makes efforts to check player ID to prevent fraud. Accessible support is also an important factor, as is the ability to deposit and play in Rand, and a selection of on-going offers will make playing a more rewarding experience for you.If you're looking for a few top-rated online casinos serving South Africa to check out, you could start with Zar Casino, Springbok Casino, Thunderbolt and Silversands.

    Can I play with real money at South African casinos?

    Many online casinos offer you the chance to test their games for free, but of course if you want the chance to win real money, you need to be able to play with real money! A good South African casino will allow you to deposit in Rand using payment methods with which you are familiar and let you play the games with real money too.Remember too that many of these South Africa online casino sites offer a welcome bonus or pack to get you started. This means you could get extra bonus funds or free spins when you make your first deposit at the site. You might even be lucky enough to find an online casino South Africa no deposit bonus!

    This page was written in 2020 and is now maintained and regularly updated by Dani Wilson. Should you have any questions or see any discrepancies on this page, feel free to reach out to her on dani.wilson@casinotopsonline.com. The casino list at the beginning of the page is revised each month, to ensure we only offer the very best casino sites to our readers. For a list of references used to create this page, please see below.

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