South Africa Gets a Pass on Rampant Corruption

South Africa landed on the FATF’s gray list in February 2023 due to glaring deficiencies in its protections against money laundering and terrorism financing. The listing followed the hearings and subsequent reports of the Zondo Commission , which operated from 2018 to 2022. The findings named and shamed hundreds of South African officials for acts of corruption, including nearly 100 prominent African National Congress (ANC) party officials—many of whom remain in power to this day. This and other graft led to years of rolling power outages, the deterioration of state-owned enterprises, and severe economic stagnation.

Corruption has a long and sordid history in South Africa, but don’t look to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to help fight it. In late October, the world’s leading intergovernmental anti-money laundering watchdog removed South Africa from its “ gray list ” of countries subject to increased monitoring. The decision raises major concerns at a time when South Africa, which will host the G-20 summit this weekend, is embroiled in a sweeping corruption scandal implicating leaders at the highest levels of government and involving dozens of politically motivated killings.

Corruption has a long and sordid history in South Africa, but don’t look to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to help fight it. In late October, the world’s leading intergovernmental anti-money laundering watchdog removed South Africa from its “gray list” of countries subject to incre