In this article, Business Against Crime South Africa (Bacsa) chairperson Neal Froneman writes that the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF's) decision to remove South Africa from its grey list is an opportunity for the country to rebuild its credibility, competitiveness and investment appeal.

South Africa has earned a timely reprieve – and with it, a rare opportunity.

With the FATF removing South Africa from the grey list, and as the world’s major economies conclude the G20 summit with renewed focus on good governance and anti-corruption, our country finds itself standing at an intersection of accountability and opportunity.

AN X-RAY OF THE STATE – AND OF BUSINESS
For the past two years, the grey listing 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 that they are 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 grey list was not a technical glitch; it was an expose 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 passive observer to active partner in restoring confidence in the country’s rule of law and accountability institutions.

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.

The real test lies ahead – embedding integrity into the operating system of our economy.

COLLABORATION IS A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
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 toward trusted jurisdictions, clean supply chains, and rule-based systems.

The strategic and confident role South Africa played at the recent G20 summit showed that when 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.

Busisiwe Mavuso, the CEO of Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA), has made a similar point, stressing that global recognition which includes South Africa’s strong showing at the G20 mean 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 non-stop.

For South Africa, this means our recovery cannot rest on policy and planning alone. It depends on whether the world believes that our contracts are honoured, our courts are functional, and our regulators are impartial.

ACCOUNTABILITY: THE ONLY DETERRENT ORGANISED CRIMINALS RESPECT
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.

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 reinvigorated 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 SA Police Services, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), and financial reporting networks demonstrates that the private sector can help build the technology, and analytical capacity that a modern justice system requires.

But 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 coordinate 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. 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.