South Africa has earned a timely reprieve and with it a rare opportunity.
With the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) removing the country from its greylist, and after the world’s major economies concluded the G20 summit with renewed focus on good governance and anti-corruption, our country finds itself standing at an intersection of accountability and opportunity.
For the past two years the greylisting has been a humbling wake-up call. It revealed what many in business already knew: that weak enforcement, porous financial systems and the erosion of the rule of law are not abstract policy failures but economic ones. Every delayed transaction, every compliance burden, every withheld investment, traced back to one simple truth: trust in the South African business system had been broken.
Being placed on the greylist was not a technical glitch; it was an exposé of our national integrity and has taught us some painful lessons. It showed that South Africa’s fight against money-laundering, terrorist funding, complex corruption and other illicit financial flows could not be placed on the shoulders of the state alone.
Business had to reclaim its role, get its own house in order, and move from being a passive observer to an active partner in restoring confidence in the country’s rule of law and accountability institutions.
The real test lies ahead — embedding integrity into the operating system of our economy.
The FATF process has already forced important changes: better oversight of beneficial ownership; more stringent controls over politically exposed persons; and stronger anti-money-laundering frameworks. But the real test lies ahead — embedding integrity into the operating system of our economy.
This year’s G20 discussions underscored that growth and governance are inseparable. From climate finance to trade policy, every major theme returned to one principle: transparency is the new competitive advantage. The global economy is moving towards trusted jurisdictions, clean supply chains and rule-based systems.
Read: Masondo warns against complacency after FATF greylist exit
The strategic and confident role South Africa played at the G20 summit showed that when the government, business and civil society pull in the same direction, the country can punch far above its weight. It proved collaboration is a competitive asset. If that spirit of joint problem-solving becomes the norm at home rather than the exception on the global stage, South Africa will start converting potential into predictable progress.
The fight is no longer only about the criminals… it is now about fixing the system that allows criminality to thrive.
Business Leadership South Africa CEO Busisiwe Mavuso has made a similar point, stressing that global recognition, which includes South Africa’s strong showing at the G20, means little unless our domestic institutions deliver. She argues that investor confidence ultimately depends on the basics, namely enforcing contracts, protecting property rights and ensuring that the justice system works nonstop.
For South Africa this means our recovery cannot rest on policy and planning alone. It depends on whether the world believes our contracts are honoured, our courts are functional and our regulators are impartial.
Business Against Crime South Africa (Bacsa) was founded three decades ago during another national turning point — when crime and corruption threatened to unravel the promise of democracy. Today the same urgency has returned, especially considering the growing threat from complex organised crime and corruption.
“A justice system that works consistently and predictably is far more frightening to criminals than any number of speeches about reform.
The fight is no longer only about the criminals responsible for crime and corruption; it is now about fixing the system that allows criminality to thrive. Accountability is an important crime prevention strategy, especially against sophisticated organised crime networks that thrive in the gaps between institutions.
A justice system that works consistently and predictably is far more frightening to criminals than any number of speeches about reform.
Bacsa is being re-invigorated to step up to this challenge. Our new approach is that business now needs to play a key role in re-establishing the rule of law as the cornerstone of competitiveness. That means investing in digital evidence capabilities, supporting the investigation and prosecution of financial crimes, and demanding accountability — not as corporate social investment, but as core economic imperative.
Our partnership with the SAPS, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, the National Prosecuting Authority and financial reporting networks demonstrates that the private sector can help build the technology and analytical capacity a modern justice system requires.
These endeavours are not only about institutions but also about resetting our culture. When compliance becomes a cost centre rather than a value system, corruption flourishes. The converse is also true: where integrity is embedded into procurement, data systems and leadership, economic growth follows.
To make these gains stick, business must co-ordinate its efforts rather than operate as a loose collection of well-meaning actors. Bacsa is the natural platform for this alignment — a way for the private sector to provide specialised support, technical expertise and operational capability without drifting into the functions of the state.
The government doesn’t need business to run policing or prosecution; it needs business to bolster the system with specialised skills — always within constitutional boundaries. Upholding the rule of law is not someone else’s responsibility. It is the platform on which every deal, every export and every job is built.
The next decade will belong to the nations — and the companies — that make integrity their growth strategy. South Africa’s credibility, competitiveness and investment appeal now depend on how faithfully we protect that principle.
Business must lead that charge — decisively, visibly and together — so that the country’s journey truly moves from grey to great.
• Froneman, a retired mining executive, chairs Business Against Crime South Africa
Also read:
EDITORIAL: Avoiding a return to the dreaded greylist
DAVID LEWIS: All hail Ismail Momoniat for getting SA off greylist
PETER ATTARD MONTALTO: Off the greylist but such a long way to go
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