On 2 July 2024, National Treasury published a media statement providing the latest update on South Africa’s progress in addressing the 22 action items outlined in the jointly agreed action plan, which action items must be met in order for South Africa to exit the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) ‘greylist’. 

The update follows the conclusion of the recent June 2024 FATF Plenary meetings held in Singapore.

As previously reported (access via Update by National Treasury on South Africa's efforts to reverse grey-listing, Ernie Van Der Vyver, Nicole Britton, Kate Swart (clydeco.com)), certain action items had to be met by May 2024, and additional actions must be addressed by September 2024, with the balance due in January 2025.  

Of the original 22 action items, South Africa still needs to address 14 outstanding items. 

Once a country addresses all its action items, the country is required to confirm its progress via an onsite visit by the FATF Joint Group. Accordingly, if the FATF Plenary determine in February 2025 that South Africa has addressed (or largely addressed) all 22 action items, it will proceed to schedule an onsite visit of in April/May 2025 to confirm that assessment and make a recommendation to the June 2025 FATF Plenary to remove South Africa from the FATF greylist. 

South Africa has two remaining reporting cycles to complete the outstanding items, in September 2024 and January 2025. Many of the 14 outstanding items are due in these last two reporting cycles, as South Africa must demonstrate that the improvements made are sustained over successive reporting periods.

In September 2024, South Africa is required to address (or at least largely address) 9 of the outstanding action items in the action plan, with a further 5 action items due in January 2025. For a list of the remaining 14 action items, please refer to National Treasury’s media statement 2024070201 MEDIA STATEMENT - PROGRESS IN ADDRESSING DEFICIENCIES IN THE COUNTRY'S AML-CFT SYSTEM.pdf (treasury.gov.za)

Once all action items are addressed, the country must confirm its progress through an onsite visit by the FATF Joint Group. If the FATF Plenary determines in February 2025 that South Africa has addressed (or largely addressed) all 22 action items, an onsite visit will be scheduled for April/May 2025 to confirm the assessment and recommend removing South Africa from the FATF greylist at the June 2025 FATF Plenary.

National Treasury indicated in the media statement that “whilst 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”.

If any of the remaining 14 outstanding action items are not addressed by January 2025, South Africa will need to continue reporting to the FATF every four months, until all the deficiencies have been addressed.

In order to address all action items by the January 2025 deadline, all relevant agencies and authorities will need to continue to demonstrate significant improvements, and also that such improvements are being sustained and are effective. National Treasury has noted that the Minister of Finance is leading a process within government to ensure that South Africa addresses all action items by January 2025, to enable South Africa to exit the greylist by June 2025.

Continued efforts to complete outstanding items and demonstrate sustained improvements will therefore be required across all spheres of government and a host of regulators to ensure a swift resolution of remaining deficiencies identified by the FATF, and to help expedite the country’s exit from the greylist.