Best Betting Sites in South Africa: Updated April 2024

Safety and security are a top priority for potential customers of online betting sites, and rightly so. For this reason, one of the first things we look at is which licences operators have. Without the right licences in place, sports betting sites in South Africa will not be able to operate legally.

Tied into licences and regulations are the security measures that betting sites have in place. Encryption should be used to ensure the personal and financial information of customers is protected at all times.

All of the best betting sites in South Africa offer high-value new customer sign up offers to attract new players. It is important to take full advantage of these signup offers, as you can only claim them once (on each bookie), and they almost always offer more value than any other promotion available.

Some punters even sign up to almost every legal bookie available to take advantage of these fantastic free bet offers.

For a lot of people who want to bet, getting the best sign-up offers is a must. So many different promotions are out there it can be difficult to judge which of them is the best, but we have sorted through them all for you.

Therefore, you can be assured that all our promotions and bonuses are fully up to date as well. We cover the most important terms and conditions of these sign up offers too.

Banking methods vary quite a bit across the different South African betting sites that are available. Users who want to use a particular payment option to make deposits and process withdrawals will want to make sure it is approved by a betting site before they join.

Other factors we look into on this topic include how long it takes withdrawals to be processed, as users understandably want to be able to get their hands on their winnings as fast as they can.

Furthermore, we check to see if there are any fees or charges for withdrawals, as well as the limits that might be in place for various banking methods. For example, some online betting sites allow a certain number of free withdrawals, after which an administration fee is payable to them.

Popular payment methods accepted by South African Betting Sites:

• Visa Card
• Mastercard
• Ozow
• SID
• 1ForYou Voucher
• OTT Voucher
• Kazang
• EasyLoad
• Blu Voucher
• EFT (Bank Transfers)
• USSD
• MTN MoMo

Of course, the sportsbook itself is of primary focus in our reviews. We look into the range of sports offered and make sure there are no obvious omissions. Beyond this, the depth of markets is also assessed to see how many different bets customers are able to pick from.

This is also the case for live in-play betting, which is popular among a lot of South African sports fans. Within the betting markets, we also compare the value of the odds on offer to see how they rank across a range of the top sports to bet on in South Africa, like soccer, cricket, rugby and horse racing.

Anyone who is serious about online betting in South Africa needs to know the value of betting odds. Even if you think the difference between odds available on different sites is small, it mounts up in the long run if you place a lot of bets on sports.

Shopping around for the best odds on your chosen bet can be useful to boost your profits, while we tell you how good the odds from a bookmaker are in our detailed betting site reviews. Some bookmakers may also be known for having top odds in some sports, but not in others.

But how do we calculate which betting sites offer the highest betting odds on average? Well, you can compare the betting margins for each bookie below, for both live and pre-match markets on cricket, soccer and horse racing bets.

If you did not know, the betting margin is essentially how much a bookie "charges" you to place a bet. Simply put, the lower the betting margin, the higher the odds.

More and more players want to use their mobile phone for betting these days. This allows you to place a bet on the big game even if you are not at home, which creates more opportunities for winning wagers.

While betting sites invariably have a good mobile site now, an app can take things to the next level. We will tell you in our reviews whether the betting site in question has betting apps and whether they are available on iOS, Android or other platforms.

We will even review those betting apps to tell you if they are worth using or not, as well as going through what the software has to offer in terms of betting markets and so on.

Compare which betting sites offer betting apps on Android and iOS below, and the results of our tests on our best betting apps in South Africa page.

If you have an issue with your betting site account, you need to be able to get help quickly in order to resolve the issue.

This is why customer support is so vital. The best betting sites tend to offer customer service on a 24 hours a day basis and there might be help on offer in multiple languages as well.

Live chat is one of the most popular ways to use customer service these days. But a range of customer service options is a good thing, as some people prefer to use the phone or email.

The best betting sites offer 24/7 customer support with several methods of contact, including a live chat, email, and free phone number. This is certainly not the case across all betting sites, but the top bookies in our list all offer top-tier, 24/7 customer support with several contact methods.

This is the most important step when you decide to start betting. You see, there are many bookies in South Africa with varying benefits. In picking a betting partner, consider the following

• Their legal status in terms of licenses.
• Promotions, offers, and bonuses.
• Their reputation in terms of reviews and handling customer queries.
• The diversity of payment options.
• Odds is another factor you will need to think about, considering that the better the odds they are offering, the better the payout.

Once you have selected a bookie, use these steps to open an account.

1. Go to the betting site on a browser.
2. Click on the “Sign up” button.
3. Fill in the info required on the spaces provided that include your mobile number, name, password, location address, etc.
4. It is important that you confirm and verify that the information you have put is accurate. 
5. Accept the site’s terms and conditions and confirm that you are 18+ years old.

Once you have registered your account on the chosen betting company, the law requires that all persons who are to participate in betting do verify their accounts.  The South African Financial Intelligence Centre Act 2001 (FICA) makes it mandatory for verification in order to curb fraud, money laundering, terrorism, and cybercrimes. To verify your identity, you must avail copies of one of the following documents: 

Identity documents: 

• Valid Driver’s License (front and back).
• Smart card ID (front and back).
• Green ID Book.

Proof of residence documents by betting sites include pictures or copies of:

• Bank statements (less than three months old).
• Municipal rate and taxes invoice (less than three months old).
• Utility bill (less than three months old).

Once you have the required documents, the verification is mostly the same across most betting sites. Login to your account and locate the “My Profile” button that will tell you if your account has been verified. The bookies always keep the FICA button on the punter’s account and so try to locate the tabs. To Upload the documents, follow these steps

1. Go to the “FICA Documentation” tab.
2. Select “Upload Passport/ID”.
3. Choose the relevant file from your computer and click enter. 
4. Click on “Upload proof of address”.
5. Select the relevant file from your computer and double-click or click enter. 
6. Once all of this has been done, click “Submit”.

Once the documents have been verified, wait for a confirmation email or SMS within 48 hours.

Once you have your account verified, you are required to fund your account so that you can be able to place a bet. You could use any of the following ways to fund your account- Debit/Credit cards, Vouchers, and prepaid cards, E-wallets, Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT), Bank Payments, Entropay Credit Card.

1. Begin by finding your Sport, then the league or activity, and conclude by picking the event that you want to bet on.
2. Make your selection.
3. Enter the amount you want to stake.
4. Confirm your bet slip and await the results.

 Withdrawals take different forms that include Betting shops, E-wallets, Debit/Credit cards, and Bank Transfers. It is worth noting that for you to withdraw from your account, you must have you account FICA verified.