The South African Banking Risk Information Centre (Sabric), the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) and the Banking Association South Africa (Basa) have launched the Section 205 Digital Subpoena initiative, a key development in South Africa’s efforts to combat financial crime.

The initiative is aimed at enhancing the efficiency of subpoenaing bank records digitally, significantly expediting the process for law enforcement agencies.

The ability to subpoena bank records digitally is expected to substantially reduce the time required for banks to provide financial records to law enforcement to align South Africa with global standards in digital law enforcement processes.

The Section 205 Digital Subpoena project was launched in Gauteng as a pilot and will be rolled out nationally in 2025. This development follows the establishment in 2023 of a Digital and Financial Forensic Analysis Centre for the Hawks.

The centre was a collaborative effort between the Hawks, Basa and Sabric, and is part of the partnership between government and business led by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Hawks national head General Seswantsho Godfrey Lebeya explained on December 11 that, since the establishment of the Digital and Financial Forensic Analysis Centre, 58 Hawks investigators have been onboarded, with 127 cases taken on and 910 evidential exhibits acquired.

He said that, through the centre, 782 law enforcement officers have been trained on bank statement analysis so far, while 68 Hawks investigators, digital forensic investigators, and financial analysts were trained by means of a 11-module curriculum on conducting forensic investigation and financial analysis.

Moreover, as many as 114 bank statements that span years with hundreds of thousands of transactions have been processed. These were acquired in PDF format, converted and analysed.

“[We now have] the ability to convert bank statements into an electronic format for processing and analysis. This dramatically reduces data processing and analysis tags, allowing the launch the ability to detect global for the funds. This will lead to shorter investigation times and quicker prosecutorial decisions,” Sabric CEO Nischal Mewalall explained.

The Section 205 Digital Subpoena initiative will ensure advanced training for senior investigators in essential financial forensic analysis skills, enhancing their ability to efficiently retrieve and analyse digital data.

“The Hawks in Gauteng are now connected to 11 banks via a secure communication network, enabling them to serve subpoenas. Banks can acknowledge receipt and respond to intervention requests through the same platform, streamlining the process. This development marks a significant milestone in the modernisation and technical transformation of investigative procedures,” Mewalall said.

The initiative will also make high-end software and hardware, with full technical support, available to the Hawks to assist them in investigating financial crimes, such as money laundering and terrorism financing.

Further, the initiative will facilitate ongoing collaboration between digital forensics professionals to promote high ethical standards and innovation.

“This initiative was a direct request from the [Hawks] to the banking sector, making it essential for the sector to develop a solution to the need that had been already identified. The Hawks are in control of their own investigations and what helps them achieve their objectives. We have no influence.

“This has been a fundamental principle of this partnership, and there are stringent legal and governance standards in place to ensure this,” Mewalall said.