South Africa is off the FATF Greylist: What it means for accountability and the fight against corruption

South Africa’s removal from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) greylist marks a turning point in restoring integrity, rebuilding institutional trust, and strengthening the systems that detect, prosecute, and recover the proceeds of corruption.

It is a significant step toward rebuilding confidence in South Africa’s financial and judicial institutions, but for those of us tracking accountability and justice, the real story begins now.

Why it matters

At the Progress Report, our mission is to monitor and explain how South Africa’s anti-corruption institutions are performing, particularly the Special Tribunal and the Specialised Commercial Crimes Courts (SCCCs).

The FATF greylist exit directly links to that mission. It shows that South Africa can reform, legislate, and coordinate effectively. But whether these improvements truly strengthen accountability depends on what happens next:

• Will cases move faster through the courts and the Special Tribunal?
• Will assets be frozen and recovered at the same pace as they are stolen?
• Will investigations lead to convictions, and will those responsible face real consequences?

These are the questions that will determine whether the FATF milestone becomes a turning point for transparency, or just another chapter in South Africa’s long struggle against corruption. The next step is proving that reform translates into justice.

Exiting the greylist is about more than financial credibility. It is about proving that South Africa can track, expose, and disrupt corruption at every level.

Beyond financial reform: a test of justice

Exiting the greylist is about more than financial credibility. It is about proving that South Africa can track, expose, and disrupt corruption at every level. These reforms are not just technical or financial. They go to the heart of rebuilding public trust in institutions that were hollowed out by corruption and state capture.

The FATF process forced the country to modernise its laws and rebuild capacity in institutions weakened by State Capture. It required a whole-of-government effort involving the National Treasury, the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), the South African Revenue Service (SARS), the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).

According to the FATF’s June 2025 Plenary statement, South Africa demonstrated “a sustained increase in investigations and prosecutions of serious and complex money laundering and the full range of terrorist financing activities.” The FATF also commended the development of a national counter-terrorism financing strategy and coordination between the DPCI, State Security Agency, and NPA.

As SARS Commissioner Edward Kieswetter reminded South Africans, “Exiting the greylist is a milestone, not a finish line. We have fixed some of the rules. Now we need to show that our regulators, prosecutors, and investigators can enforce them”

Now, the challenge shifts from policy to performance, from passing laws to enforcing them.

The institutions that make accountability real

The Special Investigating Unit (SIU)

The SIU’s civil investigations and asset recovery work are the backbone of South Africa’s anti-corruption framework. In the past year, it has recovered or preserved over R14 billion in assets and identified billions more in irregular expenditure. The SIU investigates the complex paper trails that underlie state capture, following the money through banks, shell companies, and property transfers.

The Special Tribunal

The Special Tribunal turns the SIU’s investigations into binding legal outcomes. Its civil jurisdiction allows it to order the repayment or forfeiture of stolen funds without waiting for lengthy criminal trials.

Recent judgments such as the Hamilton Ndlovu PPE case (R158 million repaid), the Digital Vibes matter (R22 million in assets frozen), and the ABB–Eskom settlement (R2.5 billion repaid) show the Tribunal’s speed and effectiveness in acting against corruption.

Together, the SIU and the Tribunal represent a uniquely South African innovation: a parallel pathway for accountability that delivers results even when criminal prosecutions are slow.

The need to strengthen the Special Tribunal

However, the Special Tribunal needs to be strengthened in order to remain effective. Earlier this year, the case of SIU v Letwaba & Others tested whether the Tribunal can order that assets suspected to be the proceeds of corruption be forfeited to the state.

In this matter, the SIU sought to freeze and forfeit a farm in Limpopo allegedly bought with misappropriated lottery funds. The respondents argued that the Tribunal lacked constitutional authority to order forfeiture. The Democratic Governance and Rights Unit (DGRU), acting as amicus curiae, agreed that while the Tribunal can review and set aside unlawful contracts under the SIU Act, only the High Court and the Asset Forfeiture Unit of the NPA may order forfeiture.

Constitutional researcher Dan Mafora warned that granting such powers without legislative reform could blur the distinction between courts and tribunals and undermine constitutional safeguards.

The Progress Report’s view is clear: the Tribunal is a vital tool for civil recovery, but its powers remain uncertain. To make it fully effective, Parliament must amend the SIU Act to clarify and strengthen the Tribunal’s authority, ensuring it can operate with both legitimacy and impact. Accountability should never be delayed by ambiguity.

The Specialised Commercial Crimes Courts (SCCCs)

The SCCCs focus on criminal accountability, prosecuting those who commit financial crimes. For South Africa to stay off the greylist, these courts must secure more convictions in complex, high-value cases.

Their success in securing convictions will be a key indicator in South Africa’s next FATF evaluation, and a measure of whether systemic reforms have translated into real accountability.

A turning point for transparency

The FATF’s decision reflects real progress in transparency. New beneficial ownership registers make it harder to hide behind shell companies. Mandatory traveller declarations and cross-agency data-sharing improve the detection of illicit flows. Cooperation between financial institutions and regulators has increased.

By following the money, monitoring case outcomes, and translating complex legal processes into accessible information, the Progress Report ensures that accountability remains visible and verifiable.

But transparency only matters if it is linked to public accountability. That is where platforms like the Progress Report step in, connecting the dots between financial reform, institutional performance, and the lived reality of justice.

From compliance to confidence

The Progress Report campaign mantra is rooted in accountability, transparency, and public trust. South Africa’s greylist exit aligns with each of these goals:

1. Accountability: Institutions like the SIU, Special Tribunal, and SCCCs must not only exist on paper but deliver visible outcomes through judgments, convictions, and recovered funds.
2. Transparency: The reforms must result in greater public access to information about corruption cases, judgments, and enforcement actions.
3. Public trust: When South Africans see justice being done, when money is returned, and perpetrators are prosecuted, confidence in the system can begin to rebuild.

For too long, corruption cases have disappeared into bureaucratic silence. The FATF exit gives us a chance to change that narrative and prove that transparency and enforcement can work together to restore credibility.

The road ahead

South Africa’s next FATF evaluation begins in 2026, with an on-site visit in 2027. To maintain its new standing, the country must demonstrate real results:

• Successful prosecutions of complex financial crimes.
• Confiscation and return of illicit funds.
• Sanctions for professionals and enablers who facilitate laundering.
• Public reporting on enforcement outcomes.

The Progress Report will continue to monitor these areas, not just through policy updates, but by tracking actual cases and outcomes in the Special Tribunal and Specialised Commercial Crimes Courts.

Staying off the greylist will depend not only on compliance but on consequences. For reforms to endure, South Africa must prove that corruption has real costs and that justice has real reach.

As part of our ongoing mandate, the Progress Report will continue to track how these reforms translate into real-world accountability across the Special Tribunal and SCCCs.

Institutional reform is possible

South Africa’s removal from the greylist is not just a bureaucratic victory. It is a call to action and proof that institutional reform is possible, but only meaningful if it leads to justice.

This is the beginning of a new chapter in accountability, one where public money is recovered, institutions are strengthened, and trust in the rule of law begins to return.

Sources

• SAnews: SA exits FATF greylist after successful reform efforts (26 Oct 2025)
• SAnews: President hails exit from greylist (27 Oct 2025)
• Moneyweb: Grey list exit — SA can’t rest on its laurels (25 Oct 2025)
• Moneyweb: South Africa off the dirty-money grey list (24 Oct 2025)
• SARS Commissioner Edward Kieswetter interview, SABC Morning Live (28 Oct 2025)