The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has published, for public comment, various exchange control draft circulars which address new limits for cross-border payments and investments by people in South Africa.

The circulars also outline the streamlining of certain administrative processes.

The changes to the exchange controls follow announcements made by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana during the 2026 Budget tabling last week. National Treasury aims to strengthen South Africa’s anti-money laundering system and prevent the financial system from being abused by criminals.

The closing date for public comments is March 17.

The comments received on the nine draft circulars will be reviewed and considered, after which the Financial Surveillance Department will issue the final circulars – at which date the dispensations will become effective.

The changes to cross-border transactions include, for example, the limit for miscellaneous imports, services or subscriptions payments for credit or debit cards being changed from R50 000 to R100 000 per transaction.

Currently, South African residents in whose name one or more bank credit and/or debit cards have been issued may make permissible foreign currency payments for small transactions, but payments are limited to R50 000 per transaction, with no allowance for split transactions. Accordingly, with Godongwana’s announcements, this limit will increase to R100 000 per transaction.

The limit for miscellaneous payments to non-residents for sponsorships, office and warehouse expenses, demurrage or refunds will also increase from R100 000 to R200 000 per transaction.

The SARB further advises that a framework for the announced Synthetic Financial Centre dispensation will be developed and made available for public comment later in the year.

In turn, Treasury will publish updated draft regulations for public comment related to exchange control, which will enable both the implementation of a capital flow management framework and later the crypto assets framework for cross-border activities. 

Other changes will include Treasury expanding the HoldCo concept for corporations, allowing asset managers to manage their portfolios locally in foreign currency as corporations are permitted to do.

The draft exchange control circulars, format for comment submissions and the email address it must be sent to can be found here.