South Africa is running out of time to fast-track legislation that could prevent a possible greylisting by the international community, while the rate at which Parliament is moving is raising concern., Joseph Maswanganyi, the chairperson for the committee, said that the National Treasury must explain why tabling necessary changes to money laundering legislation took so long.
The FATF found gaps in critical financial legislation that resulted in abuse and criminal activity. South Africa has until the end of this month, October, to prove to the task force that it has policies to meet the recommendations. A final decision on whether to greylist the country is to be made in February 2023.
Intellidex said that despite some progress by the government and other institutions to tackle tax crimes, illicit money flows and more – certain areas of implementation of the FATF’s recommendation seem impossible within the specific timeline. They said that the economic impact will depend substantially on how seriously South Africa is perceived to be working toward FATF compliance.
The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation has made minimal progress in building the capacity to investigate money laundering and terrorist financing, as well as other commercial crime.