South Africa Makes Significant Progress on FATF Grey-Listing Concerns, Says Acting Minister Ramokgopa

Posted on September 5, 2024
by Yashmika Dukaran

Acting Minister in the Presidency, Maropene Ramokgopa, announced that South Africa is making significant strides in addressing concerns raised by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) regarding grey-listing.

Key reforms include strengthening the country's frameworks for anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CTF), improving regulatory enforcement, and enhancing financial transparency.

During a media briefing following Wednesday's Cabinet meeting, Ramokgopa highlighted that South Africa has successfully met 15 of the 20 technical compliance requirements. "There has been significant progress in addressing technical compliance deficiencies. Of the 20 technical requirements, 15 have been fully resolved," she said.

To fully exit the grey list, South Africa needs to address 22 actions related to effectiveness, of which eight have been completed. The remaining 14 must be tackled by February 2025.

Despite the complexities of these issues, Ramokgopa emphasized that Cabinet is committed to resolving the outstanding actions. She also noted that South Africa's progress is ahead of some well-developed countries like the United States, which still lags behind.