Getting Help

If betting has stopped feeling like fun, the fastest help in South Africa is one free phone call. The National Responsible Gambling Programme (NRGP) runs a confidential line on 0800 006 008, answered by trained counsellors, 24 hours a day. It is independent of every bookmaker, it costs nothing, and you do not need things to be at breaking point to use it.

Call 0800 006 008 — free, confidential, any time.

What does a counselling call involve?

It is a conversation, not an interrogation. A trained counsellor listens to what is going on and helps you make sense of it, without judgement and without pressure. Most people are surprised by how ordinary and calming the first call feels.

From that first conversation, the NRGP can offer:

• Telephone counselling — ongoing support by phone, on a schedule that suits you.
• Free face-to-face treatment — referral to a professional near you, at no cost.
• Practical next steps — help thinking through money, limits and a break, with the self-exclusion and deposit limit tools as immediate, in-account guardrails.

There is no paperwork to dread and no cost to weigh. The hardest part is dialling; the counsellor handles the rest.

Help for family, not only the gambler

Gambling rarely stays the gambler’s problem alone — it lands on partners, parents and kids too. The NRGP supports the people around it as well. If someone you love is gambling in a way that worries you, you can call 0800 006 008 for yourself: for advice on what to say, how to set boundaries, and how to look after your own wellbeing while you support them.

That matters, because trying to manage it alone is exhausting and often makes things worse. A short, free call gives you a clear-headed person to think it through with.

What support actually looks like over time

Help is rarely a single phone call and done. For most people it is a short series of conversations that gradually move from “what is going on” to “here is what changes things.” Telephone counselling fits around a working week, and where someone wants more, the NRGP can refer to free face-to-face treatment with a professional — no cost, and no obligation to keep going if it is not for you.

Practical money steps usually run alongside the talking. A counsellor will often suggest a hard guardrail first, because it removes the daily decision while the bigger work happens: a deposit limit to cap what goes in, or self-exclusion to close the account entirely for a while. Putting one of those in place before the first call is not jumping the gun — it buys you breathing room from day one.

When to make the call

There is no threshold you have to cross first. If betting is taking more than you planned, if you are hiding it, or if it has stopped being fun, that is reason enough — the full list is in our guide to the signs of a problem. Reaching out early is far easier than reaching out late, and the people on the line have heard every version of it before.

A common worry is that calling makes it “official” or that someone will judge the amount you bet. Neither holds. The line is anonymous, the counsellors do not keep a scorecard, and there is no minimum problem you have to qualify with. People call after one heavy weekend and people call after years of it; both get the same patient, practical response. If you are unsure whether your situation “counts,” that uncertainty is itself a perfectly good reason to pick up the phone.

You can set a break inside your account at Scorebet in under a minute, and you can phone the NRGP on 0800 006 008 right now. Neither costs you anything but a moment, and both put you back in control.

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18+. Underage gambling is a criminal offence. Winners know when to stop. Free help: NRGP 0800 006 008.