Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago says evidence of criminality was uncovered in the seizure of assets belonging to embattled Steinhoff CEO Markus Jooste and two of his associates. 

Speaking at a press briefing before the medium-term budget policy statement (MTBPS), the central bank head said the evidence had been referred to law-enforcement authorities.

Kganyago said the bank spent a lot of money on “an army of lawyers” and auditors to secure the asset freezes.

He added that those involved were challenging the action in court and had considerable means to do so.

“We expect to be spending a lot more time in courts,” he said

The bank intervened because there was evidence of a breach of exchange control and currency regulations that fall under its ambit, Kganyago said.

Meanwhile, the government said it was doing everything necessary to avoid being greylisted by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). 

Speaking at the same press conference, Treasury director-general Ismail Momoniat said greylisting's impact on the economy would depend on steps taken to avoid it.

“We have not given up. We are trying not to get greylisted. If we did nothing, there [would be] an impact. We are taking giant steps to deal with it,” he said.

He added that the government had tabled two bills in parliament to address weaknesses in the legislative framework.

“I am pretty confident parliament will pass them and they will be enforced.”

Momoniat said when the government returned to the FATF in January and February, the state's actions would be acknowledged.

“There is progress ... I think there has been improvement with prosecuting authorities and terror financing ... The impact will be smaller than the gloom that has been forecast by some people.”

The FATF placed South Africa under observation after a report in October 2021 identified shortcomings in its financial system. The country must implement the FATF’s recommendations or face being greylisted.

South Africa failed 20 of 40 FATF standards and recommendations. Regarding the effective implementation of laws, the country failed all 11 outcomes. The evaluation was made soon after South Africa began to get to grips with state capture and weaknesses.

Greylisting could increase the cost of doing business with the rest of the world.

Finance minister Enoch Godongwana said the National Prosecuting Authority's (NPA) Investigative Directorate had enrolled 26 cases, declared 89 investigations and 165 people had appeared in court for alleged state capture offences. He added that the Asset Forfeiture Unit had frozen or granted R12.9bn in preservation orders and returned R2.9bn to affected entities.

“The 2022 MTBPS proposes additional resources to the budget of the NPA, the Special Investigating Unit, the Financial Intelligence Centre and the South African Revenue Service to further improve the capability of the state to investigate and prosecute sophisticated financial crimes,” Godongwana said.