South Africa Struggles to Get Off the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) Grey List

While smaller African countries have been removed, South Africa - with its advanced economy - remains greylisted.

FATF is the intergovernmental body that assesses countries' ability to combat illicit financial activity. When South Africa was put on its grey list a year ago, government leaders predicted it would get off in just over 12 months. Analysts FATF said lax anti-money laundering measures allowed wrongdoers to move money without financial institutions setting off alarm bells. Such flows could potentially finance terrorist activity. FATF also criticised South Africa's failure to show serious commitment to prosecuting individuals linked to state capture.

South Africa's struggle to get off the greylist could partly be attributed to the government's ideological resistance to acting against terrorism on its own soil - which some officials see as a Western obsession not justified by any real threat. He believed the structural damage state capture inflicted on law enforcement agencies hampered South Africa's ability to demonstrate progress in prosecuting money laundering as required by the FATF. 'Showing a consistent improvement in these areas may require more than one or two years, indicating that South Africa is likely to remain on the grey list for some time,' he said.

Ewi also noted that one positive outcome of the greylisting was strengthening collaboration between the government, corporate sector, and civil society in the fight against terrorism and terrorist financing.

Source: Financial Digest (financialdigest.net)

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