South Africa could be placed back on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list, Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) said on Wednesday. The country was only taken off the list in October 2025.
The warning came from the latest BLSA Reform Tracker, a quarterly report on government reforms. It found that the anti-corruption score did not move in the July to September quarter. It stayed at 51.2, and no anti-corruption goals moved forward.
“We are at risk of re-entering that grey list. There is significant risk,” said Stuart Theobald, executive chairman of research firm Krutham. Krutham puts the tracker together and studies the results.
The FATF grey list names countries that are watched more closely because of gaps in how they fight money laundering and the funding of terrorism.
According to the report, going back on the list would bring more checks on South African money transfers. Banks and businesses would pay more to follow the rules. Some foreign banks might also stop working with local banks.
Local banks use these foreign partners to send money through other countries. Losing them would make payments across borders and trade finance slower and more costly, the report said.
The tracker said Ismail Momoniat has also raised the alarm. He is the National Treasury adviser who led the work that got South Africa off the list. The tracker said anti-corruption is the weak spot.
National Treasury, which leads the country’s anti-corruption work, did not reply at once to a request for comment, TechCentral reported.
BLSA said problems in law enforcement could count against South Africa. It pointed to weak work in looking into organised crime, winning court cases and taking back money made from crime.
The Madlanga commission has added to these worries. The inquiry is led by retired Constitutional Court justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga. It has found leadership failures in the police and the intelligence services while looking into claims of corruption.
“We cannot afford to become complacent, particularly when the weaknesses in our criminal justice institutions, investigations and prosecutions remain unresolved,” said BLSA CEO Busi Mavuso.
South Africa spent more than two years on the grey list before it was removed. At the time, business groups said the listing had scared off foreign investors.
The wider tracker had better news. Its total reform score rose to 72.5 from 71.3 in the quarter before. This is its highest score since the tracking started in March 2024.
South Africa is now going through a new FATF review. A peer review is expected in the first quarter of 2027, and the assessment will run until October 2027. It will check whether the country has kept up its higher number of money laundering investigations and prosecutions.
Source: this article is based on reporting by TechCentral. Image: TechCentral. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice Technology desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Werner Jacobs covers technology for Tzaneen Voice. Werner reports on mobile networks, data prices, internet access, smartphones, apps, AI, cybersecurity and South African tech companies. Each story explains what a new product, price change or policy means for ordinary users in South Africa.