Is a professional gamer in South Africa entitled to a salary?

A former South African Protea team competing in IESF's championship in South Korea.

Only if a professional gamer in South Africa is legally classified as an employee is a professional gamer in South Africa entitled to a salary. Professional gamers in South Africa are not automatically entitled to a salary merely because they are “professional gamers”.

Here is the precise legal position under South African law.

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1. Salary entitlement depends on employment status

Under South African labour law, a right to a salary arises only if a person is an “employee” as defined in the:

• Labour Relations Act (LRA)

• Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA)

If a professional gamer is not an employee, there is no statutory right to a salary.

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2. When a professional gamer is entitled to a salary

A gamer is entitled to a salary if the relationship with the esports organisation/team meets the legal tests for employment, regardless of what the contract is called.

Key indicators of employee status include (Section 200A LRA):

• The organisation controls training schedules, match participation, conduct, or availability

• The gamer is economically dependent on the organisation

• The gamer is integrated into the organisation (branding, mandatory appearances, exclusivity)

• The gamer must personally render services

• The organisation supplies equipment, facilities, or infrastructure

• The gamer works set hours or under direction

If these factors are present, the gamer is legally an employee, and then:

✔ The organisation must pay remuneration (salary/wages)
✔ The BCEA applies (leave, notice, working hours, etc.)
✔ Minimum wage laws may apply, depending on circumstances

Calling the contract a “player agreement” or “independent contractor agreement” does not override reality.

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3. When a professional gamer is not entitled to a salary

A gamer is not entitled to a salary if they are genuinely an independent contractor, for example:

• They operate as a self-employed individual

• They invoice the organisation for services

• They can compete for or work with other teams

• They control their own training time

• They bear their own business risk

• Payment is per event, prize share, sponsorship split, or appearance fee

In this case:

✖ No BCEA protection
✖ No statutory salary requirement
✔ Payment is governed only by the contract

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4. Important distinction: salary vs prize money

• Prize money is not a salary

• Sponsorship revenue sharing is not a salary

• Appearance fees are not a salary

Only remuneration paid in an employment relationship qualifies as a salary under labour law.

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5. Practical conclusion

Professional gamers in South Africa are entitled to a salary only if:

• They are legally employees under the LRA/BCEA

They are not entitled to a salary if:

• They are independent contractors or competitors earning prize-based or commercial income

Misclassification carries serious risk:

• CCMA disputes

• Back-pay claims

• PAYE and SARS penalties

Additional reading:

• 2026 Calendar of events
• AEC24 - Champions of all of Africa - Protea Female Counter Strike 2 Esports Team wins AEC24
• AEC24 - Forged in battle - a Counter Strike story...
• AEC24 - Thato Maredi outperforms Bafana Bafana!
• Affiliation: Private Clubs
• Affiliation - Procedure to be followed by school clubs affiliating for the 2026 season.
• ACES - Avenging Bafana
• ACES - Thato advances to the knock-out stages!
• Events - Northern Cape Online Esports Provincial Championships - 24 January 2026.
• GEF - Clash Royale esports athletes may win a trip to Mumbai....
  
• National Team Trials - Who qualifies for MSSA National Team Trials?
  
• Results - Northern Cape Online Esports Provincial Championships - 24 January 2026.
• Sportsmanship Award - Sportsmanship Award - Northern Cape Online Esports Provincial Championships
• Streaming - Streaming of MSSA's Northern Cape Online Championships for the MLBB esports title.

Athlete's rights:

• Is a professional gamer in South Africa entitled to a salary?

Contracts for eSports players: the basics.

Due care should be exercised when signing a contract.

All contracts should aim to provide players, clubs, organizers, and national federations with security, as well as outline the requirements of the  parties that enter into such.

There are basics to contracts of which all gamers should be aware.

In essence, an esports contract is like any employment contract. Where the gamers are employed by profit making ventures to earn monies (through appearance fees, sponsorships, prize-money), I am of the opinion that such contract must comply with the Basic Conditions of Employment Act. In such contract, the player's working conditions, pay, duties, and other pertinent details must be carefully spelt out.

As such contracts will provide for the following clauses:

• Company or organizational guidelines
• Ill health and leave benefits
• Other benefits
• Remuneration
• Sponsorship requirements
• The percentage the organisation will take from any potential tournament winnings
• Working hours

Generally though, contracts for gamers will be for a finite period which could be a year or even a few months, or even just for a specific tournament.

However, in the case of all contracts, the contracts are subject to South African law.

The contracts  themselves may too have to comply with more than just the law. For example, Mind Sports South Africa will not select players who have contracts that are in conflict with the contract that MSSA requires the members of the National Team to sign.

It is a requirement in South African law to seek advice from a legal professional before signing. Any queries must too be raised before signing and clarification must be obtained. 

All 'vagueness' must be resolved before signing.

Question just in....

How is this for a  recent question?

"I  really want to play for the national  team. I realise that it  is my only chance to go overseas and be noticed. Unfortunately my team owner (redacted) has signed a contract with its sponsors that forbids me and all other team members to play for a team  that is not sponsored by that  sponsor. The team owner also refuses to allow the team to take part in MSSA events".

Well, this  is a very complex legal  issue.

If the team owner has signed a contract with  the team's sponsors that  the team members may only play for a team sponsored by such sponsor, then, short of resigning from such team, the player concerned will not be able to play for the national team  if such sponsor does not also sponsor the national team as well.

Also, if the team owner does not want his team to participate in MSSA events, that is his  choice entirely.

However, why anyone would play for such a team is beyond me as the players will be forfeiting many opportunities and limiting their own futures.

Players need to look at their opportunities in both the short-term and the long-term.

However, it must be noted that  a team that is 'owned' by any one individual would not be able to affiliate to MSSA.

MSSA is a non-profit organisation, and only other non-profit organisations may affiliate to MSSA.

Of course is a player is playing for an organisation that  is other than a non-profit  organisation, it could also then be argued that the player is employed by such owner/company. It such a case the Basic Employment Act would apply and the players would be entitled to all sorts of benefits -- including a salary.

Happy 2016!

SA clans fail the SA professional eSports gamer

In South Africa, at the moment, practically every gamer who plays eSports claims to be a professional gamer.

What we already know is that South Africa has few, if any professional gamers,

But why?

Gamers immediately blame competition organizers for not providing enough prize monies. However, it is not prize-money that makes a professional gamer.

What does make a professional gamer is nothing more, or less, than a salary.

Looking at the clans in South Africa there does not seem to be a single clan that has made any real effort to become a viable business that employs their gamers as employees in order to play for them.

Sure there are the clans (or MMO's) that accept all sorts of freebies to make their members feel like they are getting something worthwhile.

But are they getting anything worthwhile?

In my opinion they are not!

It is all just 'smoke and mirrors'.

The freebies, hardware and other gifts do not put food on the table.

Nor do the gamers get the same benefits as other employees do under the Basic Conditions of Employment Act.

Without healthcare, fixed vacations, and a salary that at least meets the minimum wage criteria, gamers are not, nor will they ever be, professional gamers.

Gamers must therefore stop deluding themselves to be professional gamers when the clans that they play for fall so far short themselves.

When the gamers stop deluding themselves, the gamers will be able on putting pressure on their clans to 'pull finger' and start delivering.

Until then, gaming in South Africa will only be of an amateur status, and those that enter the DGL for their prizes and prize-money will continue to be part of a great delusion wherein clan owners do nothing for their gamers from a professional point of view.