One-third of South African youth have turned to gambling apps in desperation

South African youth remain the hardest hit segment of our society in 2026. In recent years, the youth unemployment rate has risen sharply to 47.4 percent, with nearly one in every two South Africans aged between 15 and 34 not having job.

This dire situation has also seen an equally sharp rise in the use of mobile gambling apps and online casinos by youth in desperation, trying to find ways to scrounge together enough money to live day-to-day.

According to Blackbullion South Africa’s latest Zaka Index, 35 percent of youth are turning to mobile gambling apps and online casinos, with the report also finding that 82 percent of youth who earn some form of money are having to survive on less than R6 000 a month.

In order to address this, the financial coaching specialists at Blackbullion SA have launched a new solution called Stack & Grow. It is described as a, “youth-focused movement encouraging young South Africans to move away from the lure of quick money through gambling and embrace saving, investing and healthier financial habits to build long-term financial security.”

While the new solution and the company behind it have a mammoth task ahead of them, especially given how rife gambling and online casino ads are in all forms of media, Stack & Grow is focused on fostering incremental but sustainable change.

“The data showed that this behaviour is rarely driven by recreational greed. Instead, young adults view placing small wagers as a digitised, day-to-day survival hustle to escape hardship, resorting to digital casinos as a survival mechanism to tackle the cost-of-living crisis they are facing. Stack & Grow is about changing the conversation from chasing quick financial wins to building small, consistent habits that can make a real difference over time,” it pointed out.

Unpacking the platform in a release to Hypertext, Blackbullion SA explained that through its local site, “Young people already have free access to practical financial education on saving, budgeting and investing. This includes interactive learning pathways and content exploring topics such as saving versus investing, compound interest and getting started with limited money.”

“The movement aims to build on these existing resources, inspiring young people to take their first steps towards financial confidence while creating opportunities for more interactive campaigns, partnerships and community engagement in 2027,” it continued.

As such, Blackbullion SA aims to take an approach where it actually shows youth how they can invest their money more effectively with longer lasting returns, using their smartphones in order to do so.

Moving forward, the platform will be ramping up its efforts at the beginning of the new year, with a Phase 1 initiative launching with a curated pilot on 1st January 2027 designed to help youth “take control of personal finance”.

“Looking ahead to 2027, Blackbullion SA plans to build on the movement through exciting collaborations with organisations working in saving, investing and financial empowerment. Existing partners include EasyEquities, through which Blackbullion South Africa users can access a free R50 investment voucher to help them get started, and Brokstock,” it concluded.

Those wanting to check out some of the free digital learning pathways made available via Blackbullion SA, can do so here.

[Image – Photo by Allison Saeng on Unsplash]

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