South Africa has been a voluntary member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) since 2003, which sets global standards to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism across national borders.

In 2021, FATF published its mutual evaluation report highlighting vulnerabilities in the country’s anti-money laundering system. We have since made substantial progress to address these weaknesses.

Two laws have been enacted to address the technical deficiencies in the legislative framework, namely the General Laws Amendment Act of 2022, and the Protection of Constitutional Democracy Against Terrorist and Related Activities Amendment Act.

The laws address 15 of the 20 legislative deficiencies identified by FATF. The remaining 5 deficiencies will be addressed through regulations and practices that do not require legislation.

We recognise the need to be more effective in implementing our laws, particularly in fighting organised and sophisticated crimes.

Addressing the FATF issues is part of the broader fight against corruption, crime, state capture and the deliberate weakening of the institutions of law and order in our country.

The FATF Plenary will make its decision later this week on whether or not to put South Africa under increased monitoring, otherwise known as grey listing. We should be prepared for that possibility.