Stay in control of your play

What responsible gambling means at Jabula Bets

Jabula Bets is licensed by the Western Cape Gambling and Racing Board and operates under the rules of the National Gambling Act. That means we are legally required to provide certain protections — but we go further than the minimum. Responsible gambling is not a compliance checkbox for us. It is a set of real tools baked into your account, available any time, for free.

The idea is simple: gambling is entertainment. Like going to a restaurant or watching a live rugby match, it should fit inside your leisure budget and not spill over into rent, savings or family expenses. When it starts crossing that line, something has gone wrong, and the earlier you catch it the easier it is to fix.

Tools in your account

Every Jabula Bets account comes with a full set of self-management controls. You do not need to contact support to activate them — open the Responsible Gambling section inside Account Settings and choose what you need.

• Deposit limit — set a daily, weekly or monthly cap on how much you can move into your balance. Once you hit the cap, no more deposits are accepted until the period resets. Lowering a limit takes effect immediately; raising it requires a 24-hour cooling-off period.
• Bet limit — maximum stake per single bet or spin across sports and casino. Useful if you tend to increase bet sizes when chasing a loss.
• Loss limit — automatic stop once your net losses in the chosen period reach the threshold you set. The balance remains, but you cannot place new bets until the period resets.
• Session time reminder — a pop-up every 15, 30 or 60 minutes reminding you how long you have been logged in and showing your current balance and net result for the session.
• Reality check — a more detailed summary that appears after a set number of bets and shows your profit/loss in plain numbers, not just a balance figure.
• Cool-off period — a temporary account suspension of 24 hours, 48 hours or 7 days. You cannot log in, deposit or bet during a cool-off. Marketing stops immediately.
• Self-exclusion — longer breaks of 30 days, 6 months, 1 year or permanent. A self-exclusion cannot be reversed before its expiry; even a permanent closure requires a formal waiting period and in-person review before reinstatement.

Signs you may need a break

Problem gambling usually creeps up gradually. Some signs are obvious; others are easy to rationalise as a bad run. Honest self-assessment is the first step.

• You regularly bet more than you planned or increase stakes to recover losses.
• You think about gambling during work, study or family time.
• You have borrowed money, sold something, or taken a cash advance to fund play.
• You feel restless or irritable when you try to stop or cut back.
• You hide the amount you spend or the time you spend gambling from people close to you.
• A significant win feels like permission to keep going rather than a good moment to stop.

If two or more of those descriptions match your situation, take the free self-assessment at responsiblegambling.org.za. It takes five minutes and the result is private.

How we protect under-18s

Jabula Bets requires ID verification before any withdrawal and performs age checks during account creation. We ask for a South African ID number, match it against national records, and flag mismatches for manual review. Accounts that cannot be verified as 18+ are locked immediately.

If you share a device with a minor, consider using parental control software such as Net Nanny or Qustodio to block gambling sites. This is especially important on family tablets or shared home computers. Our mobile app also supports biometric login, which reduces the risk of a child accessing a logged-in session.

Help in South Africa

If you feel your gambling is causing harm, professional help is available at no cost. The South African National Responsible Gambling Programme (NRGP) offers free, confidential counselling in all 11 official languages. Counsellors are trained to help with gambling-related financial stress, relationship difficulties and co-occurring conditions like anxiety and depression.

• Toll-free helpline: 0800 006 008 (available 24/7)
• SMS: 076 675 0710
• Website: responsiblegambling.org.za

For immediate emotional distress, the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG) runs a crisis line on 0800 567 567. You can also reach SADAG by SMS on 31393. These services are independent of Jabula Bets and completely confidential.

How to activate self-exclusion right now

1. Log in to your Jabula Bets account.
2. Go to Account → Responsible Gambling → Self-exclusion.
3. Select the exclusion period (30 days, 6 months, 1 year or permanent).
4. Confirm with your account password.
5. Your account locks instantly and all marketing stops within 24 hours.

If you cannot log in or prefer to speak to someone, contact our support team via live chat or email and we will process the exclusion manually within one hour. You do not need to give a reason.