Betway is a well-known bookmaker which launched its South Africa sportsbook in 2017. In addition to a very comprehensive product, with many sports and low betting margins, Betway offers punters the opportunity to bet without using up their mobile data. Some might still have questions about the bookie, though, and in this review we will answer those.
| Products | Sports, Casino, Live Casino, Virtuals, Fantasy, Lucky Numbers, Betgames, ESports & Jackpots. |
|---|---|
| License | Western Cape Gambling and Racing Board (10181496-007) |
| Founded | 2017 |
Betway is known as one of the best bookmakers in South Africa and in the world, and punters in several countries can now place bets on the sportsbook. Following its success in the UK and several other countries, Betway launched its South Africa product in 2017. Since then, the bookmaker has gone from strength to strength in this market.

In addition to sponsorships with the Premier League football clubs Arsenal and West Ham, both of which have a good following in South Africa, Betway has signed up a range of famous brand ambassadors to spread the word. Among them is the South African cricketer Kevin Pietersen, who was one of the best players in the world at his peak.
Betway is thus a well-known bookmaker in South Africa, and with a great betting product on offer, one can certainly understand why. However, some punters might still have questions about the site. In this review, we will look at everything you need to know about Betway South Africa, so that you can make an informed decision about whether to sign up or not.
Yes, Betway is fully legit in South Africa. It is licensed and regulated by the Western Cape Gambling and Racing Board under the Bookmaker License Number: 10181496-007. With online sports betting only legal in South Africa as long as sites have a license, this should be enough to reassure people that Betway is a very safe and secure company to use for online sports betting in the country.
In short, in-play betting is an area of strength for the Betway sportsbook. The live betting interface is excellent, with users given plenty of information to help them select winning wagers. Cashouts, Bet Builders, as well as HD live streaming are all available, enhancing your live betting even further.
Given just how big Betway is around the world, you would expect there to be an impressive offering in South Africa as well. This is indeed the case, as punters who sign up on the site will find that there are around 30 different sports to bet on. The big ones are soccer, horse racing, cricket and rugby, as you would expect, but there are also minor sports such as snooker, table tennis and badminton in addition to live betting.
Taking a Premier League game to determine the standard of sportsbook, as this competition is usually a good reference, we found that there were around 200 markets offered for a game. Betway is usually a very good bookie when it comes to market depth, and our suspicions were confirmed during the testing. There is also a very comprehensive bet builder, with markets such as player card and player shots, while cash is offered too.
Betway can consider itself one of the best soccer bookies in South Africa, in other words, but what about the other sports? The horse racing page has sections for both fixed odds and tote betting (pool betting), which was very nice to see, and punters can bet on meetings from all over the world here. The ante-post offering is also fairly comprehensive, which is always a plus.
Indeed, it is probably the best horse racing offering we have seen among bookies in South Africa, but this will not come as a shock to most.
During our test of the Betway sportsbook, we also made sure to check the betting margins. This is something that most punters tend to overlook, but excessive fees can make a big difference in the long run. Our test showed an average of 5.12%, which is indeed a great score.
Those who want to bet on esports in South Africa will find plenty of different options to keep them satisfied at Betway, with games such as Counter-Strike and Dota 2. Virtual sports also have their own section at Betway, with customers in South Africa able to pick from soccer, racing and horses in this part of the sportsbook.
Just like the top quality sportsbook, Betway's casino game section is also excellent and is one of the best casino platforms in South Africa. Punters can enjoy a variety of casino games on Betway South Africa and play online slots, table games, live casinos and crash games. Needless to say, online slots like Gates of Olympus are among the most popular, but crash games have been gaining popularity in recent years. Betway also joins this bandwagon and offers various crash and instant games. The Chicken Game is one of the newest and most popular titles on the platform!
While the game search only allows the basic search by name, the casino interface stands out. Each game thumbnail shows the minimum bet allowed and how many people like the game, which makes finding new games to try a lot easier.
There are a few things we want to emphasise about Betway's casino collection. The first thing is the diversity. The casino hosts games from 30+ providers, including Betway itself. The number is considerably higher than most online casinos hosting games from 4 to 5 studios.
The collection of live dealer games is one of the things you notice a difference in. Betway again excels in offering a variety thanks to OnAir Entertainment, BetGames and other major studios like Evolution, Ezugi, and Pragmatic Play. Not only the popular Lightning Roulette, but also other exciting variants of online blackjack and live roulette games can be found here.
The big game portfolio also contributes to the crash game category. The collection currently contains 54 titles, which is one of the biggest among South African online casinos. From the crash-classic Aviator from Spribe to BetGames' Skyward to Mines and Plinko, you will find eye-opening crash games at Betway. Spribe's plane crash game is, of course, the most popular, but other alternatives like JetX and CrashX from Turbo Games and Spaceman, Big Bass Crash and High Flyer from Pragmatic Play are also worth a try!
10 cents (ZAR) is the minimum bet at Betway South Africa. You can find 10c games on Betway South Africa by checking the minimum bet displayed on game thumbnails.
Betway is the home to many special features that cannot be found on other leading sports betting sites in South Africa. Among them is the chance to go data-free. Through the Betway app, users of the site can place pre-match and live bets on their favourite sports without having to use any of their smartphone's mobile data.
Doing so also enabled Betway customers to make their selections for the brand's Four To Score offer. In the Four To Score deal from Betway, which runs through the European football season, users can win up to R100,000 by guessing which team out of each of England's top four divisions - Premier League, Championship, League 1 and League 2 - will score the first goal.
New sports customers who sign up at Betway will get a special welcome offer in South Africa, a 100% first deposit match of up to R1,000, which is credited as a free bet. In order to qualify for the offer, customers will first have to make a deposit and place bets to the value of 3x the first deposit. Essentially, if your first deposit is R200, you need to place bets to the value of R600 within 30 days of registration.

These qualifying bets must also have a minimum odds of 3.0 but there are no odds restrictions for the free bet. The latter must be wagered at once and the stake will not be returned with any potential winnings, which are capped at R50,000. All things considered, this is a decent offer for South African punters to claim, although there are several other good welcome offers around.
As for the casino, new customers will have their first deposit 100% matched up to R2,000. The minimum deposit you can make to qualify for the offer is R5, it should be noted, and this deposit must be made within 30 days of registration. The bonus will be credited immediately after the deposit, as opposed to the sports offer, but there are also wagering requirements of 30x for the bonus.
Unfortunately, punters who sign up at Betway will be disappointed to find out that there are not that many promotions to claim. Compared to one of its main rivals, Betfred, it is like night and day. Aside from the welcome offer, Betway only has two promotions and the first one is a tax relief for horse racing winnings. Although the 6% government tax will indeed be paid, Betway will refund its customers the equivalent amount for the winnings.

As acca bets have become increasingly popular among punters abroad in recent years, and not just in the UK, where it is most popular, Betway has also added an acca boost of up to 300% to its South African sportsbook. The boost starts at 2.5% at just two legs, but you will need to add a whopping 40 selections to the bet slip to qualify for the full boost.
For something more reasonable, such as ten legs, Betway will boost the winnings by 15%. While the promotions offered on the site are good, there is no doubt that Betway will have to add more of them in the future.
Customers who sign up at Betway will find there is a decent selection of payment methods to choose from, although the options are many more for deposits than withdrawals. In the table below, we have collected everything you need to know about deposits and withdrawals at Betway South Africa, with everything from the minimum deposit to the withdrawal time.
Betway processes transactions in South African Rand and accepts deposits ranging from R5 to R50, depending on the method.
| Payment Methods | Min Deposit | Max Deposit | Fees | Deposit Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
VISA | R10 | R1,000,000 | No fees | Instant |
Mastercard | R10 | R1,000,000 | No fees | Instant |
Ozow | R10 | R1,000,000 | No fees | Instant |
EFT | R10 | R1,000,000 | No fees | Instant |
1Voucher | R5 | R1,500 | No fees | Instant |
OTT Voucher | R10 | R5,000 | No fees | Instant |
Kazang | R5 | R1,000 | No fees | Instant |
Bank Transfer | R50 | R1,000,000 | No fees | 1 - 3 days |
USSD M-Cash | R5 | R5,000 | No fees | Instant |
| Payment Methods | Min Withdrawal | Max Withdrawal | Fees | Withdrawal Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
EFT | R50 | R1,000,000 | No fees | Within 2 business days |
1Voucher | R300 | R25,000 | No fees | 3 - 5 banking days |
OTT Voucher | NA | - | - | - |
Bank Transfer | R300 | R25,000 | No fees | 3 - 5 banking days |
Disclaimer: Betting sites update payment details very often. Check the most updated information on the official site for confirmation.
Mobile betting is getting very popular in South Africa, and in response to that trend, Betway has developed the Betway app that can be downloaded on iOS and Android. It is possible to bet data-free when using the Betway app, which is a top reason to download it, in addition to the fact that it is a very functional app.
All of the features that you can find on the website are present in the app as well, and punters can even turn on notifications for sports events. On the App Store (iOS), the Betway app has a very good rating of 4.5 out of five stars, and we even named it the best betting app in South Africa.
The Android app for Betway is only available to download directly from the bookmaker's site. Users first have to click the settings icon on their Android device, then select security. Here, they must tick the box next to Allow Unknown Sources to allow the app to be downloaded.












| Chat | Yes |
|---|---|
| [email protected] | |
| Phone | 0861 787 250 |
| Opening hours | 7 Days a week, 24/7 |
Punters who sign up at Betway can feel comfortable knowing that there are plenty of customer support options at Betway. Traditional means such as email and telephone are available, with a good response time on these as well, but the most popular option is bound to be the live chat. This is available 24/7, and we found that the response times were fast.
If you are looking to sign up for an account at Betway, you can follow our step-by-step guide below. We will take you through the registration process, verifying your account and claiming the welcome offer.
First things first, you have to create an account at Betway. You can use our link at the top of this page, or in the bottom banner, which will bring you straight to the registration as well as the welcome offer.

In order for Betway to credit the welcome offer free bet, you will need to complete the FICA verification. Betway will attempt to do this automatically with the documents you provide during the registration:
Should the automatic verification of these documents fail, then Betway will notify the punter in question, who then will have to send an email to [email protected]. Once the verification has been sorted, then the free bet will be credited (upon placing the qualifying bets).
Once you have created an account at Betway, verified your identity and claimed the welcome offer, you can start betting at Betway. We would advise you to download the mobile app, which is the best betting app in South Africa.
| Bonus | 4 |
|---|---|
| Sports betting offer | 5 |
| Customer support | 5 |
| Payment methods | 5 |
| Licensing safety | 5 |
| Design & usability | 4 |
| Overall | 5 |

It's safe to say that Betway is one of the best gambling sites around in South Africa, offering a very comprehensive sportsbook with many sports, a bet builder, low betting margins and a great depth of markets. The data-free feature in the app is another great touch and punters who sign up on the site will surely not be disappointed.
The welcome offer is decent, despite the 3x qualifying bets, and there are a couple of good promotions to make use of. Having said that, although Betway is a brilliant sportsbook in our opinion, there is still room for improvement. We have seen some of the competitors offering more promotions and given how Betway has handled that in other markets, the number of promotions is bound to increase in South Africa as well.
Average score of 1.0 by 2 users
12 November 2023
Withdrawal
25 April 2023
DISAPPOINTMENT!
...not worth your money or time!
Ive made multiple Deposits Daily since I signed up months ago, yet I HAVE NOT SEEN A BONUS or FREE SPINS, NO WELCOME BONUS or 1st DEPOSIT MATCH to-date.
2weeks ago, An Agent advised me... "ONLY Frequent Despositors are rewarded⁉️"
Since then I started making 3x more Deposits, DAILY
...2weeks later 🤔
Nothing.