South Africa makes significant progress on FATF greylisting
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) today announced that South Africa has substantially completed all 22 action items that were contained in the Action Plan adopted when South Africa was greylisted in February 2023 (refer to Annexure below).
The decision, taken at the FATF Plenary in Strasbourg, France, notes that South Africa’s progress warrants an on-site assessment to verify that critical [Anti-Money Laundering and the Combating of the Financing of Terrorism] AML/CFT reforms have been implemented, and that the necessary political commitment remains in place to sustain progress.
National Treasury commends the efforts and commitment of the law enforcement entities, especially the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI) of the South African Police Service, the State Security Agency, and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), for the sustained increase in investigations and prosecutions of serious and complex money laundering and terror financing activities. This made it possible for South Africa to secure the upgrades of the last two remaining action items, often considered to be the most difficult, in the current reporting cycle. This was recognized by the FATF, whose statement (Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring - 13 June 2025) notes:
“South Africa has made the following reforms including: …. (5) demonstrating a sustained increase in investigations and prosecutions of serious and complex money laundering and the full range of [terror financing] TF activities in line with its risk profile; …. (7) updating its TF Risk Assessment to inform the implementation of a comprehensive national counter financing of terrorism strategy;…”
The improvements to South Africa’s AML/CFT regime are particularly important for South Africa, given the legacy of state capture, one element of which was that law enforcement and prosecuting institutions were deliberately weakened. Improvements in these domains are critical not just for getting off the greylist, but for strengthening the fight against crime and corruption, and for contributing to the integrity of the South African financial system. Exiting the FATF greylist is a significant step forward as South Africa continues to improve and strengthen its supervisory and criminal justice systems.
The completion of the Action Plan paves the way for the final step before the FATF can delist South Africa, which is an on-site visit to South Africa by the FATF Africa Joint Group (JG). During this visit, the JG will confirm the country’s ongoing commitment in the implementation of the country’s fight against money laundering, terror financing and other financial crimes. The FATF statement notes that:
“At its June 2025 Plenary, the FATF made the initial determination that South Africa has substantially completed its action plan and warrants an on-site assessment to verify that the implementation of AML/CFT reforms has begun and is being sustained, and that the necessary political commitment remains in place to sustain implementation in the future.”
The on-site visit will take place before the next FATF Plenary, and, if the outcome of the visit is positive, the FATF will delist South Africa from the greylist at its next Plenary in October 2025. Preparations for the on-site visit have commenced.
South Africa also commends Mali and Tanzania, who today were delisted from greylisting by the FATF Plenary. We also congratulate Nigeria, Mozambique and Burkina Faso, who like South Africa, were deemed to have substantially completed their action plans, and for whom on-site assessments were also approved.
National Treasury pays tribute to the late Advocate Rodney de Kock of the NPA, who played a leading role in preparing the groundwork for South Africa to address the action items, but sadly passed away in January 2025.
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