How Covid-19 flipped SA’s gambling industry overnight
Daily Maverick | 27.02.2026 01:01
In fiscal year 2020/21, as South Africa’s hard lockdown shuttered every casino in the country, betting overtook casinos for the first time in history as the dominant force in the country’s gambling economy. Casinos’ share of Gross Gambling Revenue dropped from 56.3% to 39.2% in 12 months, a 17-percentage-point decline. Betting surged from 26.8% to 45.6%, claiming the top position in the market. This wasn’t a gradual trend. It was a sudden shift.
