The National Gambling Board says it is compiling a report concerning the challenges surrounding the regulation and advertising of online gambling in SA, which it will share with the policy council soon.Board CEO Lungile Dukwana told parliament’s portfolio committee on trade, industry and competition on Wednesday that the NGB was engaging with the National Gambling Policy Council (NGPC) on the challenges the board had experienced around online gambling.“We have now written a report to the NGPC to have this matter deliberated on, especially around online gambling, the issues of bet exchanges, and historical loss tracing.”Advertising for online platforms has also increased in visibility for SA users. Research has highlighted disturbing trends, including consumers recklessly borrowing money and even using state grants to gamble.Dukwana said the board was working towards a national policy on the regulation of online gambling. The board was also holding discussions with the department of trade, industry and competition.“Increased access through mobile phones and the gambling platforms has accelerated illegal online gambling and the associated risk of compulsive gambling,” Dukwana added.He said in terms of section 11 of the current National Gambling Act, the NGB was of the view that legislation prohibited interactive gambling. The NGB was thus obliged to ensure it did not allow the practice to continue unabated. “We have dealt with some of the issues in terms of implementing what is within our scope as the NGB. The issue of the increase in illegal gambling remains a challenge.“We are also seeing that there are external operators operating in our space, [who are] not licensed in South Africa. That creates a challenge of its own because ... they are coming from online casinos and are offered from other countries.”Dukwana said the NGB was working with Google and Meta with the aim of blocking websites of illegal online gambling platforms after identifying unlicensed operators. “Google has been forthcoming, especially dealing with the aspects of online advertising, as well as Meta.”He told the committee that gross gambling revenue across all gambling modes showed strong growth, per annum, of 25.7%, 25.6%, and 13.2%, year-on-year, between 2022/23 and 2025/26.Online betting was identified as the primary growth driver, increasing from R23.7bn in 2022/23 to R62.1bn in 2025/26. Casino gaming revenue remained stable over the same period, generating between R16bn and R17bn.Business Times