According to Treasury, the country has addressed eight of the 22 action items required to exit the greylist, with 14 items still outstanding
National Treasury has announced that South Africa is not expected to exit the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) greylist before June next year, aligning with the action plan deadlines set by the global watchdog. Despite this timeline, the Treasury has expressed satisfaction with the country’s progress, saying that South Africa is on track to meet the FATF’s requirements following the plenary meetings in Singapore last month.
The FATF, which establishes global standards for combating money laundering and terrorism financing, updated its assessment of South Africa’s progress in addressing 22 action items. South Africa was placed on the greylist in February last year due to deficiencies in its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CFT) regime.
“National Treasury notes that while South Africa is on track to address all the outstanding Action Items, it remains a tough challenge to address all 14 of the remaining Action Items by February 2025,” Treasury said in a statement on Tuesday.
“All relevant agencies and authorities will need to continue to demonstrate significant improvements, and also that such improvements are being sustained and are effective.”
READ: Financial Task Force puts SA on Grey List
Since joining the FATF in 2003, South Africa had managed to avoid the greylist until early last year.
According to the Treasury, the country has addressed eight of the 22 action items required to exit the greylist, with 14 items still outstanding. The resolved items include legal provisions criminalising terrorist financing, enhancing financial intelligence use, updating the Terror Financing National Risk Assessment and increasing the capacity of relevant authorities.
Treasury noted:
The January 2025 deadline serves as a general guide on the earliest time that South Africa can be expected to have addressed all the Action Items in the Action Plan, which is two years after the placement of a country on the FATF greylist.
The FATF plenary in June did not discuss delisting South Africa but acknowledged the progress made on 17 outstanding action items. It confirmed that South Africa has largely addressed three additional action items, leaving 14 to be resolved.
READ: Tshepo Matseba | Highly ranked in corrupt countries, SA needs to be removed from FATF grey list
The next reporting cycle in September 2024 requires South Africa to address or largely address nine of the outstanding items, with the final five items due in January 2025. The FATF will then schedule an onsite visit in April or May 2025 to confirm the country’s compliance and potentially recommend removal from the greylist in June 2025.
Treasury said Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has been actively leading efforts within government to ensure all action items are addressed by February 2025.
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