South Africa spent more than two years clawing its way off the Financial Action Task Force’s grey list. It officially escaped in October 2025. Now, barely eight months later, the country is staring down the possibility of landing right back on it.
Business Day reported that police corruption revelations, specifically findings from the Madlanga commission linking law enforcement to cartel activities, have raised serious questions about whether South Africa can sustain the reforms that earned its delisting in the first place.
From grey list to grey area
The FATF added South Africa to its grey list in February 2023, flagging deficiencies in the country’s anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism frameworks. South Africa responded with a 22-item action plan designed to address every deficiency the FATF identified. After an on-site visit confirmed sufficient progress, the country was formally removed from the grey list on 24 October 2025. The European Union followed suit by removing South Africa from its own high-risk third-country list, effective 29 January 2026.
The FATF’s next mutual evaluation round for South Africa is scheduled to begin in the first half of 2026 and conclude around October 2027. That evaluation will scrutinize whether reforms have been maintained and whether enforcement mechanisms are actually functioning. Corruption at the law enforcement level strikes directly at the credibility of both.
