Dear Editor
The DA welcomes the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Plenary’s decision to upgrade South Africa’s progress on the final two reforms necessary to exit the FATF greylist.
While this is an important step, the DA cautions the NPA and our financial regulators against complacency. Exiting the greylist remains subject to a site visit by the FATF ahead of the body’s next plenary in October.
The DA will continue our input and oversight work to contribute to the site visit’s success. Should there be any delay in South Africa’s exit from the greylist, this would aggravate the damage caused since 2023.
The longer South Africa stays on the grey list, the harder it will be for our banks to do business both domestically and internationally.
While getting off the greylist would likely not directly improve economic conditions for South Africa, lowering correspondent banking costs can improve the input cost for other industries. It’s currently an affordable ticket to the global game.
Exiting and staying off the greylist requires not once-off window dressing, but sustained change and implementation. The only thing worse than ending up on the greylist, is ending up on the greylist twice.
To ensure that orange overalls is the new way to avoid grey, the DA will continue to push for the NPA to improve its poor performance on the prosecution of financial crimes, which has held back South Africa’s removal from the FATF list once already.
We will persist in driving our Anti-Corruption Bill through Parliament, which would create an independent Anti-Corruption Commission solely focused on investigating and prosecuting cases of serious corruption and white collar crime, of which financial crimes is a subset.
The DA joined the government of national unity to secure jobs and growth for all South Africans, and the financial sector is a key engine of our growth, especially in Africa. The DA welcome any development that makes it easier for the sector to do its work of keeping money flowing.
Regards
Wendy Alexander MP
DA Deputy Spokesperson on Finance