Casino

As stated in the National Gambling Act, 7 of 2004, ‘‘casino’’ means premises where gambling games are played, or are available to be played, but does not include premises in which:

1. only bingo and no other gambling game is played or available to be played;
2. only limited pay-out machines are available to be played;
3. limited pay-out machines are available to be played and bingo, but no other gambling game is played or available to be played; or
4. only social gambling is conducted in terms of a temporary license or provincial law.

The formal casino industry in South Africa evolved in the mid-1990s and was arbitrarily chosen. In 1994, a total of nine (9) casinos existed and were all located in the previous TBVC (Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda and Ciskei) states. Most of these were built in the 1980s, the first being Sun City which opened in December 1979. In the period prior to the passing of the National Gambling Act of 1996, namely 1994 to 1996, not much happened in terms of casino infrastructure investment.  However, during 1997 to 2002, the industry entered a period of rapid development and, by the turn of the century, there were 17 casinos operating from permanent venues, with a further 5 casinos still operating from temporary infrastructure (NGB report, February 2003).  In 2002 a further 6 casinos were established and best available records of that time indicate cumulative total capital investment in the casino industry of R11.5 billion. Over the subsequent period up to 2010 a further eight (8) new casinos were established and substantial investment in upgrading and refurbishment was made in existing casinos, leading to cumulative total capital investment of R19.5 billion by 2010.

As at 31 March 2024 a total number of 37 casinos (out of a maximum of 41 licenses) were operational in South Africa. The controlling shareholders for operational casinos are Sun International (11 casinos), Tsogo Sun Holdings/Hosken Consolidated Investments (15 casinos), Peermont Resorts (8 casinos), Northern Cape Casino Consultants (1 casino) and Billion Group (1 casino).

There are a total of 21 978 slot machines throughout the country. Gauteng accounts for the highest number of slots in casinos, with 8 113 slot machines or 36.9% relative to other provinces. KZN and the Western Cape house 17.8% and 15.8% of the country’s slots machines respectively. There are 911 operational casino tables throughout the country. The majority of tables are in Gauteng at 335 tables or 36.8%. The Eastern Cape (16.0%) and KZN (16.8%) also house a sizable number of casino tables.

The total value of GGR generated by casinos in FY2023/24 was R17.4 billion. This amount represents 29% of GGR across all gambling modes. Casino GGR saw miniscule growth of 0.1% relative to the previous year. Gauteng (45.5%) generates the largest share of GGR relative to other provinces. This is followed by GGR in casinos in KwaZulu-Natal (21.1%) and the Western Cape (15.3%). The total value of casino taxes/levies generated during FY2023/24  was R1.8 billion. This amount represents 37% of taxes/levies across all gambling modes. Gauteng (40.3%) generates the largest share of taxes/levies relative to other provinces.