National Gambling Board and ARB: Joint Oversight of Gambling Ads

What the two boards agreed

The National Gambling Board (NGB) is the national regulator under the National Gambling Act. The Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB) runs the Code of Advertising Practice, the advertising industry's own rulebook, which has an appendix on gambling. In a joint media statement dated Thursday, 17 September 2026, the two said they "have entered into a formal partnership" through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

In the statement's words, the MoU "establishes a formal framework for the NGB and ARB to cooperate in monitoring and addressing non-compliant gambling advertising, responding to breaches of advertising standards and establishing referral mechanisms for complaints relating to gambling advertising."

It reaches past ads from licensed operators: "The collaboration will also extend to cross-border and illegal online gambling advertising, including joint monitoring of social media, online platforms, influencer marketing and other digital channels." The two boards will also exchange information on advertising trends and run educational and awareness campaigns together. Each keeps its own mandate.

What the two heads said

The NGB's acting chief executive, Lungile Dukwana, said gambling promotions can now reach consumers more often through social media, influencer marketing and digital platforms, "and, in some instances, young and vulnerable audiences". He called the agreement a way to make sure that gambling advertising "is responsible, compliant and does not undermine the safeguards that exist to protect consumers".

The ARB's chief executive, Gail Schimmel, said: "This MOU comes at an important time as we prepare to launch our updated Gambling Code and as gambling advertising continues to evolve across traditional and digital platforms." The statement gives no date for the updated code.

What it means for you as a player

The statement changes no rule on what you may play or where. What changes is who is watching the ads: the MoU sets up a way to refer complaints about gambling ads between the advertising regulator and the gambling regulator, and the two say they will look at influencer posts and ads for illegal online gambling, not only at TV, radio and billboards.

The NGB closes the statement with advice to the public: it "encourages members of the public to gamble only with licensed operators and to remain cautious when responding to gambling advertisements and promotions, particularly those encountered online and on social media." Before you follow an ad, you can check a South African licence; every review on this site gives the licence the brand states, and says plainly when a brand is not licensed by a South African board.

This site is itself a guide that links to gambling operators, so the ARB's Gambling Code is part of what we read when we write.