Global NPO Coalition co-chair Human Security Collective (HSC) visited Cape Town and Johannesburg to engage with a broad range of stakeholders on the FATF framework and its impacts.

The visit began in Cape Town, where HSC participated in a two-day seminar titled “Reflection on Over 20 Years of AML/CFT Implementation.” Organised by CENFRI and the University of the Western Cape with support from IFAD, the seminar brought together representatives from the FATF Secretariat, South Africa’s National Treasury, Financial Intelligence Unit, and Central Bank, as well as private sector actors, academics, think tanks, and NPOs. Discussions reflected on two decades of AML/CFT implementation and considered what lies ahead.

As part of the program, participants visited Capitec Bank in Stellenbosch, one of South Africa’s largest banks by customer base, for a briefing on its behaviour-based risk modelling system. HSC also met with Coalition partner Inyathelo, to learn how the implementation of Recommendation 8 is affecting the NPO sector and how local organizations are engaging with regulatory processes.

In Johannesburg, HSC met with the Banking Association of South Africa and the Department of Social Development, the latter playing a dual role as both funder and regulator of NPOs—described aptly as "the player and the referee."

South Africa’s greylisting by the FATF has opened space for deeper engagement between stakeholders on financial integrity issues, including the application of Recommendation 8. But the visit also underscored a key challenge: the difficulty of applying a one-size-fits-all framework like the FATF’s across diverse economic and developmental contexts.