In his Budget Speech address, Minister Godongwana said addressing the Financial Action Task Force (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.

On Friday, South Africa is set to know if it is being included on the FATF’s grey list. If the FATF’s International Co-operation Review Group remains unconvinced ahead of its plenary taking place on 22–24 February 2023, South Africa will be subjected to increased monitoring or “grey listing”.

Krevania Pillay, Senior Associate in the Construction & Engineering, and Corporate Investigations Sectors in the Dispute Resolution practice at Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr (CDH), says “When the FATF places a jurisdiction under increased monitoring, it means the country has committed to resolve the strategic deficiencies identified in relation to countering money laundering, terrorist financing and financing of proliferation. This places it one step away from the “black list”, in which countries are called upon to apply counter-measures (likely in the form of sanctions) to protect the international financial system from the ongoing financial crime risk posed by the country.”