Polymarket bets on South Africa's mayors with no regulator oversight

A week before South Africa's 4 November local elections, Polymarket gives the DA's Geordin Hill-Lewis a 96% chance of becoming Cape Town mayor and Helen Zille 52% in Johannesburg. Trading across the eight metros totals about $379,000, and the national bookmakers' association Saba wants prediction markets brought under gambling law.

• Cape Town: Hill-Lewis at 96%, but only $11,700 in volume
• Johannesburg: Zille at 52%, $135,000 of the $379,000 total
• Taker fee on political markets peaks near 2% at a 50c price
• Saba wants Polymarket treated as illegal offshore gambling