Billionaire gambling tycoon bankrolled four of South Africa’s political parties

Billionaire gambling tycoon Martin Moshal is one of South Africa’s largest individual donors to political parties, having donated at least R103 million to four parties since 2021/22.

For most of South Africa’s democratic era, political party funding remained opaque, with no obligation to disclose private donations.

Civil society groups challenged this secrecy, arguing that voters had a constitutional right to know who funds political parties.

In 2018, the Constitutional Court ruled that Parliament must pass legislation to ensure transparency. This led to the Political Party Funding Act, which came into effect in April 2021.

The law introduced disclosure rules, donation limits, IEC oversight, and public access to funding data.

Parties must now declare all donations above R100,000 per donor per year (the threshold was later raised to R200,000).

Additionally, donors may not contribute more than R30 million annually to a single party, up from the original R15 million limit.

Smaller donations below the threshold are only reported in aggregate, meaning the public still sees only part of the full picture of party financing.

Since disclosures of funding over a certain amount became compulsory in 2021, parties have reported over R880.7 million in donations over the minimum declaration threshold.

A large portion of this comes from Moshal, who has accumulatively disclosed donating at least R103 million to:

• Democratic Alliance (DA) – R43 million;
• ActionSA – R37 million;
• Build One South Africa (BOSA) – R15.5 million;
• Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) – R7.5 million.

He believes this will help the country fulfil its potential.

“As individuals, there’s only so much we can achieve. A government can have an impact on the entire country, for better or worse,” he said.

“That’s why investment in competent parties with integrity can have such an impact on the country as a whole.”

“If they come together or work in some way as a team, they could provide solid leadership and government of the country.”

The secretive billionaire

Moshal is a pioneer in the online gaming industry, though he is very secretive. He is notoriously media-shy, with no prominent interviews, and little is known about his business dealings.

However, historical documents about Moshal and his company, Microgaming, shed light on how he amassed his wealth and became a billionaire.

Moshal was born in Durban. He studied business science at the University of Cape Town and was keen to launch a new business as the internet gained traction.

He had an idea to develop online casino games through his software company but needed funding for the project.

He approached Discovery Bank Limited for funding. However, he could not secure an investment without a good credit score or track record.

Good fortune struck when he met merchant banker Roger Raatgever at the bank, who was willing to co-sign the loan for a 50% stake in the company.

Moshal agreed, and he co-founded Microgaming. In 1994, the company launched The Gaming Club in South Africa using the domain casino.co.za.

The company continued developing new games and licensed online casino games, including blackjack, slots, and roulette, to new players.

A big development came in 1998, when Microgaming introduced Cash Splash, the first online progressive jackpot slot game.

It linked the game’s jackpot across all online casinos which offered the game, which means the jackpot could rapidly increase.

In May 2009, Microgaming’s progressive slot Mega Moolah paid out $6,374,434—the largest online casino payout at the time.

Microgaming continued its innovation in online gambling and became the market leader. While others faded, it remained a top player in the industry for three decades.

It remains a privately held company based in the Isle of Man. It boasts 200 staff with a portfolio of more than 850 games.

Raatgever, who served as chief executive since 2001, stepped down in 2018. New CEO Stephen Fisk expressed excitement over the company’s new plans.

One of their biggest bets is sports betting, which will play a growing role in Microgaming’s growth strategy.

Microgaming powers Betway, a British gambling company founded in 2006 that offers sports betting, online casinos, online poker, and online bingo. Moshal is one of Betway’s backers.

In July, Betway signed a 3-year sponsorship deal worth R900 million with South Africa’s Premier Soccer League as its title sponsor.

South Africa’s betting landscape has boomed. South Africans spent R1.5 trillion on gambling activities during the 2024/25 financial year, which is a R400 billion increase from the year before.

Given that various parties are partly bankrolled by gambling tycoons, some worry that this prevents a crackdown on the industry.

RISE Mzansi MP Makashule Gana told Newsday that “gambling addiction has reached crisis levels, and it is fast becoming a pandemic.”

“It is a concern when gambling operators become the key funders of political parties. It does not inspire confidence that political leaders/parties will spearhead gambling reforms in South Africa.”

“With gambling addiction that has become a crisis, it becomes critical that political parties and politicians evaluate closely where they raise their funds.”

He said that now that awareness has grown, slow progress on gambling reforms is no longer acceptable.

Ventures outside of gambling

Besides Microgaming, Moshal has been behind many other successful businesses as a founder and investor.

He is the co-founder of Entree Capital, which invests in various technology and business innovation companies worldwide.

He also maintains additional investments in leading companies, including real estate, technology, and start-ups.

He launched the Moshal Foundation and the Moshal Scholarship Program, which funds students’ university fees and assists them in getting employment after graduation.

He is particularly proud of the work done through the Moshal Program, which was started in 2009 to help individuals transform their lives through higher education.

It is a social transformation organisation that provides opportunities to promising individuals and supports them as they overcome their challenges.

The Moshal Program partnered with top South African universities in science, technology, Mathematics, engineering, and commerce.

The Moshal Program has 1,400 alumni from Israel and South Africa, with 300 new graduates joining the community each year.

“You don’t need to pay us back, but you do need to pay it forward,” Moshal told the program’s graduates.

Moshal has received an honorary PhD from Technion, the Israel Institute of Technology, and is also an honorary fellow of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.