A Durban-born online gambling billionaire and venture capitalist has contributed an additional R5 million each to the DA and ActionSA.
Venture capitalist and online gambling billionaire Martin Moshal has contributed an additional R5 million each to the Democratic Alliance and ActionSA in the first quarter of the 2026/27 financial year.
This was revealed in the Electoral Commission’s latest report of political funding declarations for the period from 1 April to 30 June 2026, published on 27 August 2026.
Party funding disclosures published since 2021 show that Moshal is one of South Africa’s single largest donors to opposition parties.
Born in 1970 in Durban, South Africa, Moshal attended Carmel College and completed a degree in business science at the University of Cape Town in 1992.
His father, John Hilel Moshal, founded Control Logic (Conlog) in 1965 when transistorised electronics were still relatively new and built it into South Africa’s largest industrial electronics company.
He sold a 50% stake in Conlog to Engelhard Industries, which subsequently passed to Anglo American. In 1984, he sold his remaining interest completely and moved on to other business interests.
John Moshal was also a prominent member of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies and a philanthropist. He died on 26 October 2021 at the age of 81 in London.
Public documents show that father and son became involved in the interactive gambling industry from the late 1990s.
After earning his degree, Martin Moshal had an idea to develop online casino games just as the Internet was taking off, but he needed funding for the project.
He approached Discover Bank 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 established The Gaming Club in South Africa. Early domain records show it registered the domain casino.co.za in November 1995.
Microgaming is a contender for the title of the company to launch the world’s first online gambling platform. Raatgever became the company’s chief executive in 2001 and stepped down in 2018.
In 1996, the Moshals founded Derivco, a software development company behind many of the systems Microgaming used. John Moshal was the sole director of Derivco until shortly before his passing.
In addition to running Derivco, John Moshal’s name also appears in several international patents as an inventor of gambling-related systems.
These include a patent for a “backup random number generator gaming system” and a system that allows players to choose games and place wagers from distributed terminals.
Martin Moshal, meanwhile, is the beneficiary of several trusts which together own 45% of Super Group, amaBhungane reported. It is the holding company of Betway and Jackpot City.
Super Group also owns The Gaming Club. On its website, Super Group said that The Gaming Club was established in 1994 and was the world’s first online casino.
The Gaming Club is no longer hosted at casino.co.za. It gave up its original domain and now operates from gamingclub.com. It also does not allow people in South Africa to register.
Martin Moshal (middle), founder of Microgaming and the Moshal Program
Since 2021, Martin Moshal has donated R118 million to four different political parties: the DA, ActionSA, the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), and Build One South Africa (BOSA).
amaBhungane reported that he is the single largest individual donor and the third-largest overall donor to political parties in South Africa.
His contributions are only exceeded by those of the extended Oppenheimer family and the corporate vehicles through which Capitec founder Michiel le Roux donates.
The Outlier’s political party donation dashboard for 2021–2026 showed that Moshal donated R48 million to the DA, R47 million to ActionSA, R7.5 million to the IFP, and R15.5 million to BOSA.
Moshal has given very few media interviews. However, he previously told the South African Jewish Report that he donates to political parties to have a wider and deeper impact.
“I’m not saying these parties are all perfect, but we shouldn’t let perfect be the enemy of good. They are all far better than the government we have today,” Moshal said.
He believes that, at this moment in history, there was a strong moral argument to provide support to all centre-left and centre-right parties.
Ahead of the 2024 national elections, which ultimately led to the formation of the second Government of National Unity, Moshal also published a note to students and alumni of the Moshal Program.
He founded the Moshal Program in 2009. It funds and supports students from disadvantaged backgrounds through university and into employment, particularly in South Africa and Israel.
“It is not for me to tell you how to vote. That is ultimately up to you. It is a personal decision and right which you alone need to make,” Moshal said on the programme’s LinkedIn page.
However, Moshal said he wanted to take the opportunity to share his opinions with the programme’s students and alumni.
Cyril Ramaphosa, President of the ANC and of the Republic of South Africa
“I believe the ANC are owed a great debt for helping rid the country of Apartheid. This debt has been more than repaid by allowing them to run the country over the last 30 years,” he said.
“Unfortunately, they have clearly lost their way. Despite any rhetoric to the contrary, they have been stealing from their people and are doing little to stop it from happening.”
Moshal said the ANC’s greed and policies were responsible for the lack of electricity and opportunities across the country, with crime continuing to be rampant.
“There is no indication that they have any desire nor ability to change. They need to be voted out of power, and I strongly suggest that you do not vote for them,” he continued.
“I believe the EFF are no better with populist policies that would destroy the country’s economy and with a leadership that is corrupt to the core. They do not deserve your vote.”
Moshal said it was no secret that he provided financial support to many of South Africa’s opposition parties.
He said the DA, ActionSA, BOSA, IFP, the ACDP, and other opposition parties were all worthy of people’s votes.
“This is because they are mostly honest and will look to serve the people of the country with policies that will grow the economy and provide better security for all South Africa’s people,” he said.
When MyBroadband contacted the Moshal Program with questions regarding his contributions, they claimed they had no direct contact with him.
“Our role within the Moshal Program is focused solely on scholarship-related matters and scholarship programme implementation,” a spokesperson told MyBroadband.
“We do not maintain direct contact with Mr Martin Moshal and as such, are unable to provide or facilitate contact details.”
