Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana in his Mid Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) said that the government expected to address all the deficiencies identified by the FATF by early 2025.
South Africa was greylisted by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
The minister said that a large number of government departments and agencies – including the police the Hawks, NPA, SIU, SSA, the Reserve Bank, FSCA, and SARS – have been working hard to address these deficiencies.
“The FATF noted at its plenary meeting last week that such work is showing positive results, with South Africa having addressed 15 of the 20 technical deficiencies in our legal framework and making good progress on 17 of the 22 effectiveness action items, including 2 that are now deemed to be largely addressed,’ he said during his MTBPS.
Godongwana further said that still is more work to be done.
He said, “With regard to the investigation and prosecution of complex money laundering cases and terror financing, the identification of informal mechanisms for remitting money around the world, and the recovery of the proceeds from crime and corruption. Government expects to address all the deficiencies identified by FATF by early 2025. We are also devising ways to make better and more targeted use of the Criminal Asset Recovery Account (CARA) to address crime.”
“Among these efforts and emanating from the Presidential project on illicit mining strategy, a recommendation has been made for Cabinet to consider using money from the fund to strengthen the capability of our law enforcement agencies in dealing with criminal activities such as illegal mining, construction site extortion, and making our communities safer,” he said.
BUSINESS REPORT