Surveys conducted by the World Economic Forum, United Nations (UN) Office on Drugs and Crime, and Accountability Lab between 2015 and 2025 show that corruption frequently tops the list of concerns among young people. A recent survey among youth in Africa reveals similar statistics – 80% think corruption is the most important problem Africa faces.

‘The recent Gen Z uprisings in Nepal, Tanzania, Kenya, Bangladesh and Madagascar are about both the rejection of corrupt leaders and corrupted political systems,’ Associate Professor at Stellenbosch University Firoz Khan told ISS Today.

Against this backdrop, South Africa’s anti-corruption reform project is progressing too slowly. It has taken 10 years to generate comprehensive proposals to address graft, which include the establishment of a new anti-corruption agency – the Office of Public Integrity (OPI). President Cyril Ramaphosa and his cabinet must move swiftly to put the proposed system into operation.

The planning process thus far has been thorough. OPI was designed through a consultative process in which civil society organisations played a central role. The National Anti-Corruption Strategy 2020-2030 was drafted by a reference group comprising government officials and key civil society organisations.

In 2022 Ramaphosa appointed the National Anti-Corruption Advisory Council to guide his government on how to implement the strategy. The council comprised representatives from academia, anti-corruption non-governmental organisations, trade unions, the legal professions and traditional leaders. It carried out extensive research into models for anti-corruption institutions from across Africa, Asia and Europe.

The council’s final report, published on 28 August 2025, recommended the establishment of an independent OPI, insulated in Chapter 9 of the constitution, similar to the Office of the Public Protector.

Chapter 9 institutions cannot be abolished by a simple majority vote in Parliament, unlike those created by a simple statute, such as the former Directorate of Special Operations. This anti-corruption directorate, known as the Scorpions, was closed down in 2009 following an African National Congress resolution, which aimed to prevent it from investigating senior politicians.

Prevention is key to the OPI’s mandate. South Africa has signed and ratified the UN Convention Against Corruption – Article 6 of which provides that member states should have an agency dedicated to preventing corruption. This is a gap in South Africa’s anti-corruption institutional matrix that must be fixed urgently.

The advisory council recommended that the OPI not replace the institutions currently investigating and prosecuting criminal cases of corruption. The National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) Investigating Directorate Against Corruption prosecutes high-level corruption, and the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) in the South African Police Service is mandated to investigate corruption cases.

It recommended that these agencies be strengthened, with the NPA becoming functionally and financially independent from the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development.

The council said establishing the OPI was urgent. It recognised the significant achievements of the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), South Africa’s most successful anti-corruption agency. It recommended the OPI absorb the SIU’s current mandate, functions and institution, and immediately use its offices, resources and staff to move forward. Essentially, the SIU should ‘grow’ into the OPI, with an expanded mandate to encompass corruption prevention.

The SIU is well positioned for a seamless transition to the OPI. It already performs the core functions required: forensic investigations, asset recovery through civil litigation and making systemic recommendations for reform. It also conducts prevention and advisory initiatives and targeted awareness campaigns. It develops prevention plans and uses data analytics as a proactive preventive tool.

Importantly, the SIU operates across the full accountability chain by combining forensic investigations, civil recovery (via the SIU Special Tribunal), referrals for criminal prosecution (to the NPA), referrals of misconduct for disciplinary action (to employers), and systemic reform recommendations.

With the advisory council having fulfilled its brief, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development is responsible for the next steps. It is the department responsible for drafting legislation and overseeing law enforcement agencies.

With the effort now firmly within the executive branch of government, civil society has lost its seat at the table, and must trust that this vital initiative is taken forward with urgency.

Thus far, Parliament is playing a robust oversight role. On 14 May, the advisory council presented its OPI recommendations to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development. At the time, Committee Chair Xola Nqola said the committee would monitor whether the proposal got enough support from the executive to kick-start implementation.

So far, developments are encouraging. The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development told ISS Today: ‘Processes are underway to engage other government departments and constitutional institutions to also gather their views on the [advisory council] recommendations, in preparation for its tabling in Cabinet, as directed by President Ramaphosa in his February 2025 State of the Nation Address.

‘The [department] regards the [council report] recommendations as vital tools in combatting corruption and we reaffirm our unwavering dedication to rule out corruption in our country.’

Given South Africa’s resource and capability constraints, the establishment of yet another government agency could be met with scepticism by citizens. But the council’s reasoning is sound, and its focus on building from what already works well is strategic and pragmatic. Importantly, it recognises that the country cannot afford to go without a long-term plan to address corruption.

South Africans should look forward to hearing that the proposal for a new anti-corruption agency is being actioned. Given recent public uprisings against corruption in other countries, South Africa’s Government of National Unity must deliver concrete actions to demonstrate its commitment to combatting corruption and building integrity.

Written by Colette Ashton, Research Consultant, Justice and Violence Prevention Programme, ISS Pretoria.

Republished with permission from ISS Africa. The original article can be found here.

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Operation Screen West Africa 2025 (July – October) brought together law enforcement agencies from 12 West African countries to strengthen border security, track persons with links to terrorism and disrupt transnational organized crime networks, Interpol said in a statement. Frontline officers at land, air and sea borders used Interpol Mobile Devices and other systems to access the Organization’s extensive global databases, carrying out a total of 1.7 million real-time checks, up from 1.3 million in 2024.

In all, Operation Screen West Africa 2025 led to nine arrests of individuals suspected of connections with terrorism. It also generated almost 250 “hits” against Interpol databases, including seven linked to Red Notices and nine linked to Blue Notices citing terrorist activities.

Among the operation’s most notable successes were the arrests in Burkina Faso of two individuals wanted by law enforcement authorities, and subject to Blue Notices issued by Côte d’Ivoire, who were involved in terrorist attacks by Al-Qaeda affiliated terrorist group JNIM that killed more than ten security personnel in Côte d’Ivoire in 2020.

Notably, Blue Notices are requests between Interpol member countries to collect additional information about a person’s identity, location or activities, in relation to a criminal investigation. These arrests will allow law enforcement officers to further investigate the deadly attack.

Officers in Burkina Faso also arrested a third individual known to have connections to terrorism, who was also the subject of a Blue Notice issued by Togo in 2024 during FIRST (Facial, Imaging, Recognition, Searching and Tracking), another Interpol operation that took place in West Africa focusing on identifying suspected terrorists and requesting follow-up Blue Notices.

In Mauritania, six individuals were arrested over suspected links to a terrorist attack. Mauritania requested the publication of Blue Notices seeking more information on these suspects.

“These cases highlight how the operational support we offer member countries and our unique specialist tools can make the links that identify suspected terrorists and disrupt their attempts to create fear and endanger communities. We are determined to counter these threats and constantly work with our member countries to strengthen global security,” said Cyril Gout, acting Interpol Executive Director Police Services.

Officers in Ghana were also able to free 21 victims of human trafficking who had been held in Nigeria and exploited in connection with fraudulent schemes.

The operation also included checks at harbours and in territorial waters. Interpol said it alerted participating countries about vessels using deceptive shipping practices, such as identity tampering, so-called dark operations, where ships deliberately switch off their identification systems, and frequent flag changes, or “flag hopping”.

Operational seizures included:

17 caches of weapons and ammunition
Explosives, including dynamite and detonators
136 stolen vehicles
731 kg of cannabis
Counterfeit medicine including fake branded opioid pain relief tablets
Counterfeit currency and fraudulent documents

The proceeds from many of these items may be used to finance terrorism or fund organised crime activities, Interpol highlighted. It said the 12 participating countries in the operation were Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, the Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.

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“As the NATJOINTS, we have been meeting daily with all relevant role-players to ensure our security plan is well-executed,” NATJOINTS Chairperson Lieutenant General Tebello Mosikili said on Tuesday.

South Africa will host the Leaders’ Summit on 22 and 23 November 2025 after having assumed the G20 Presidency in December 2024.

“We are therefore confident in saying that the safety and security preparations for the Summit are well on track, with all critical role players already on the ground executing their various responsibilities as per their mandate,” she said.

This as a five-pillar approach has been taken for the summit that will be hosted on African soil for the first time.

The five-pillar approach speaks to:
• Intelligence gathering, analysis and co-ordination; to ensure police detect, prevent and combat all forms of criminality timeously.
• A proactive approach which includes high visibility to police all hotspot areas to prevent, and respond to any element of criminality.
• The implementation of the Combat approach in response to any violation of the law through the deployment of uniformed officers including specialised units. Should the need arise, the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) is also on standby to exercise their secondary role of supporting the South African Police Service (SAPS).
• Reactive approach through detection and case management.
• Awareness and information sharing led by the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS), and Communication teams from the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) and the SAPS, keeping interested parties and communities at home and abroad updated through messaging that will enhance the safety and security of everyone in the country – residents and visitors alike.

Addressing the media at the Nasrec Expo Centre in Johannesburg on the state of security readiness for the Summit, Mosikili urged the public to take note of the identified road closures and cooperate with law enforcement authorities. She added that roads will be closed off completely and movement from pedestrians, cyclists and motorists will be limited when convoys pass through.

“Roads will be opened as soon as the convoys move past the affected routes,” she said.

This as the Road Traffic Management Corporation as well as the Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni Metro Police Departments have already appraised communities of the affected road closures and possible traffic delays. The specific routes that are already affected include parts of the N1, N12, R21, N3, R24 and the M1.

She warned that lawlessness will not be tolerated and those found on the wrong side of the law will face the might of the law.

“We would like to remind members of the public that the safety of our visitors and that of South Africans as a whole, is paramount and anyone who tries and even attempts to test our security measures – will face the full might of the law.”

With regards to groups planning to protest within the Nasrec vicinity, Mosikili urged them to do so within the confines of the law.

“Failure to do so, could land you on the wrong side of the law and we shall also not hesitate to act decisively with any acts of lawlessness. Designated speakers’ corners around the vicinity of Nasrec have been identified for this purpose.

“We will therefore not allow any disruptions, lawlessness and no damaging and defacing of G20 infrastructure including posters. It is on that note, that we request everyone within the borders of South Africa to cooperate with law enforcement officers at all times, to enable us to deliver a successful event.”

Boots on the ground

With the maximum resources in place, law enforcement is prepared and ready to police the event with fit for purpose members.

“Together with various law enforcement agencies including the Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) and the Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD), we are executing and implementing the security plan accordingly, with more boots on the ground,” she said.

Accreditation

With regard to the access to the venue, Lt Gen Mosikili said only those in possession of valid accreditation will be allowed near the venue and restricted areas.

“Therefore, those who are still without accreditation which includes officials and members of the media are advised to obtain a non-transferable accreditation,” she said.

She warned that those found with fraudulent accreditation or using another person’s accreditation, will face the full might of the law.

“No accreditation card, no entrance to the venue,” she said.

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A panel discussion on “Building national resilience through home-grown technological innovations for safety and security” brought together senior technocrats, academics, and industry figures to explore strategic independence, digital resilience, and barriers that stop home-grown innovation from advancing.

Speakers included Dr Mike Masiapato, Commissioner of the Border Management Authority (BMA); Dr Moses Khanyile, Director of the Defence Artificial Intelligence Research Unit (DAIRU); Dr Mamela Luthuli, CEO of TakeNote IT; and Dr Mthobisi Zondi, CEO and Executive Chair of Sandock Austral Defence.

Together, they described a country at a crossroads: one that must choose whether to rely on foreign partners for critical technologies or commit to building resilient, locally integrated systems to safeguard its security and economic future. Though views varied, the message was clear: South Africa must move beyond conceptual debates toward decisive action to secure borders, protect citizens, and drive economic growth.

Strategic Independence in a Volatile World

Opening the discussion, Zondi strongly argued that national resilience beings with strategic independence. “For any country to project resilience, in the way that it projects defence and military capability, for example, there has to be strategic independence. Strategic independence allows a country to deploy its capabilities on its own volition, without dependence on third-party countries,” Zondi told attendees.

He explained that ‘dependence’ leaves states dangerously exposed. Citing recent conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle East, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, he cautioned that geopolitical instability could quickly expose nations that overly rely on foreign suppliers. “Geopolitics is so fluid, a person you depend on to supply consumables for security of supply, for example, may not be amenable to do that tomorrow,” he noted.

Achieving independence will require a “whole of South Africa” approach. Defence must be part of the national R&D conversation, not an afterthought. “One of the biggest challenges in terms of defence is that the defence community does not sit at the table where plans and priorities in the government are made,” he explained.

Departments like Trade, Industry, and Competition alongside Higher Education and Defence invest billions in R&D, yet “when it comes to setting up priorities, a strategic map for the next five years for key technologies that are going to be developed for socio-economic purposes, defence is not involved.”

Zondi also urged a shift away from costly “invention” cycles towards pragmatic innovation. “We need to be focusing on innovation, packaging existing technological building blocks and underpinning it with commercial off-the-shelf technology to solve problems that have never been solved before. It’s cheaper, the development cycle is quicker.”

Digital Resilience Over Digital Sovereignty

Khanyile challenged the practicality of digital sovereignty, arguing that South Africa should instead prioritise digital resilience.

“Digital sovereignty does not exist; it is a very aspirational thing. Digital resilience is what we should be talking about.”

Citing intensified global geopolitical fractures, Khanyile also warned that these same fractures extend into the digital landscape and that they will force difficult strategic decisions moving forward.

“In its quest for digital resilience, South Africa needs to decide whether it is going to go East or West for its digital requirements,” he said, adding, “we have been told the East is bad and the West is good, and they have been told the opposite. South Africa is supposedly non-aligned, but one way or another we have to make a commitment in terms of our digital assets and infrastructure.”

He also predicted a future where security forces will rely heavily on technology for everyday policing. “For every human law enforcer, you will have three or four digital equivalents fulfilling that responsibility elsewhere,” he said, highlighting the need for strategic investment, especially in artificial intelligence, to mitigate future dependency.

Confidence and Execution: Time for African Solutions

Luthuli, on the other hand, emphasised self-belief and practical action over dependency on foreign solutions. “We should not be looking East or West. As Africans, we should focus on what works for us and develop our own home-grown solutions,” she argued.

Luthuli argued that Africa’s biggest limitation is not capability, but self-belief. “You can travel anywhere in the world and find a South African behind the technologies we admire and try to replicate at home,” she said. “Our biggest weakness is implementation, we need to start doing things; we conceptualise too long.”

Ongoing Vulnerability and Bureaucratic Paralysis

Masiapato argued that fear and over-caution in government decision-making stifle progress and agility, leading to indecision. “One of the biggest challenges I have observed over my 20 years as a technocrat in South Africa is that we have put ourselves under the bus. Everyone is afraid, if you do not do everything perfectly you will be fired or jailed,” he said.

“Directors are afraid to take decisions and always want to ask a higher official. It makes processes slow, rigid, and ineffective. As a result, we cannot harness the local technologies that already exist in the country,” he explained.

Masiapato specifically highlighted border management as a key vulnerability, citing the 2010 FIFA World Cup, when some potentially dangerous individuals entered and never left. He called for using local technologies, including advanced biometric and surveillance systems, to manage migration securely while facilitating economic and social benefits.

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Like more traditional forms of organised crime, graft in municipalities is both organised and criminal. However, the predicate offences are not trafficking drugs, arms and people – they are crimes such as corruption and fraud.

Local government is responsible for driving economic growth, providing infrastructure and delivering essential services in its jurisdiction. To do so, municipal actors regularly interact with private sector service providers, the mechanisms of which are governed by the Municipal Finance Management Act.

But the lack of internal legislative compliance and consequence management means these interactions can be easily exploited. Actors inside and outside municipalities have formed corrupt networks and processes that facilitate personal benefit. These are organised and maintained over time.

To understand the connections between graft and organised crime in local government, the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) mapped incidents of corruption or alleged corruption at three municipalities. It used reports from AGSA, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) and parliamentary committees, as well as South Africa’s 2024 Governance Performance Index, news articles, and investigations.

Reported corruption at the three municipalities – Madibeng Local Municipality (Madibeng), OR Tambo District Municipality (ORTDM) and City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality (COJ) – followed similar patterns of organisation.

First, influence is gained through irregular appointments, nepotism and patronage. Second, this influence is used to manipulate and exploit legitimate systems for personal gain. Third, the illicit activities are abetted or protected by either administrative or violent means, or both.

One of the ways in which corruption in Madibeng has been organised is through family, friendship or political connections in the municipality, extending into the private sector. This has created networks (not necessarily involving the same individuals) that facilitate financial crimes, such as bank account tampering, tender fraud, illegal investments, and duplicate payments.

All of these have required a coordinated effort to perpetrate, sustain and conceal. The systematic nature of these activities, resembling organised crime, is what makes this type of corruption ‘organised’ rather than ‘ordinary’ or ‘systemic’.

Some corruption in ORTDM has taken advantage of the opportunities created by the ongoing water crisis in the province. It is organised through relationships between municipal officials, government utility employees and private contractors.

ORTDM’s water and sanitation department had a ‘prepaid’ scheme for paying contractors for work on various dam projects. Many of them were never delivered. Several irregular payments and advances were paid to the provincial water board, as well as independent construction contractors involved in water projects – some of whom are being investigated by the SIU.

Corruption at COJ has involved levels of organisation often associated with state capture. The AGSA recently reported poor consequence management, material non-compliance with procurement and contract management, and high levels of irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure across COJ’s agencies and entities.

The SIU outlined several ‘systemic weaknesses’ in COJ’s operations, including collusion between supply chain management officials, bid committee members and service providers; overpricing of goods and services; and inadequate or flawed systems and processes.

In all three municipalities, appointing individuals with political or familial connections places them in positions that can protect perpetrators from whistleblowing and reporting. Protection through intimidation was illustrated in ORTDM. There, Gift of the Givers aid workers distributing free water after the June floods, were threatened by a ‘water mafia’ with alleged links to water contracts with the municipality.

The more organised, normalised and profitable corruption becomes in municipalities, the less incentive there is for good governance. The implications are serious and directly affect the daily lives of South Africans, with health, sanitation, environmental and economic consequences. Corruption scandals and service delivery challenges also erode public trust, resulting in protests or disengagement from democratic processes.

If being highly organised helps offenders to initiate, embed and benefit from corruption, it is important to understand how that organisation happens so that it can be disrupted or prevented.

The term ‘organised corruption’ has been coined to describe ‘a symbiosis of organised crime, criminal methods and high-level corruption.’ But it is most often applied to the capture of state-owned entities – not local government.

So how do we recognise the varied types of organised corruption that are becoming entrenched in South Africa’s municipalities? They often involve private sector actors and include forms of criminality that may, but do not necessarily, fall under the traditional understanding of ‘organised crime’.

Nuanced analysis is needed to provide further insights into the organised dimensions of corruption in local and other levels of government in South Africa. This includes understanding the actors involved, the nature of their relationships, the processes used, the benefits accrued, and how these are distributed, concealed and used.

Understanding these dynamics will enable us to collect intelligence, build prosecutable cases, address accountability gaps and design effective interventions.

For more on this topic, click here to read our new policy brief: ‘Corruption in SA municipalities: a form of organised crime?’

Written by Romi Sigsworth, Research Consultant, ENACT, ISS.

Republished with permission from ISS Africa. The original article can be found here.

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Trump said the US will not attend the G20 summit in South Africa over widely discredited claims that white people are being persecuted in the country. The US president said it was a “total disgrace” that South Africa is hosting the meeting, where leaders from the world’s largest economies will gather in Johannesburg later this month.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) said it had noted the content of President Trump’s post and reiterated government’s consistent position on the matter.

“The South African government wishes to state, for the record, that the characterisation of Afrikaners as an exclusively white group is ahistorical. Furthermore, the claim that this community faces persecution is not substantiated by fact,” DIRCO said.

DIRCO said the country’s position on this matter remains consistent with its previous statements, referencing a series of official responses released previously concerning misrepresentations of race relations and farm-related crime in South Africa.

The department provided links to four previous statements addressing similar claims, including responses to the United States’ Special Refugee Programme and other official US communications. These statements, DIRCO said, set the record straight on farm crime and human rights practices in South Africa.

DIRCO’s latest statement follows a Truth Social post by President Trump, in which he alleged that Afrikaners, whom he described as a persecuted white minority, were being targeted in South Africa. The post has drawn criticism both locally and internationally for misrepresenting the country’s social dynamics.

The South African government emphasised that its focus remains on building unity and promoting social cohesion, noting that the country’s transformation from a history of racial division to a constitutional democracy stands as a global example of reconciliation and inclusion.

“Against this backdrop, South Africa’s focus remains on its positive global contributions. Drawing on our own journey from racial and ethnic division to democracy, our nation is uniquely positioned to champion within the G20 a future of genuine solidarity, where shared prosperity bridges deep inequalities. We look forward to hosting a successful G20 Leaders’ Summit,” the statement said.

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The decision to delist South Africa was taken at the conclusion of meetings of the FATF Plenary that took place over 22-24 October 2025 in Paris, France.

After South Africa was listed on the FATF greylist in February 2023, government worked tirelessly to address all the deficiencies that were identified by the FATF and which were reflected in the 22 Action Items in the Action Plan agreed between South Africa and the FATF.

The FATF is an intergovernmental organisation and finance watchdog that was established to combat money laundering, terrorist and proliferation financing, as well as other threats to the integrity of the international financial system.

It sets global standards for anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing, promotes the effective implementation of these standards, and conducts mutual evaluations of member countries to assess their compliance with the FATF Recommendations.

“Over the past 32 months, South Africa has engaged with a team of reviewers assigned by the FATF to assess progress against the Action Plan. This culminated in an on-site visit at the end of July 2025, when the assessors came to the country to confirm the sustainability of the reforms that had been reported to them,” National Treasury said on Friday.

This concluded with a meeting with Deputy Minister of Finance, Dr David Masondo, and Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Andries Nel, who assured the FATF of the South African Government’s political commitment to continue to sustainably improving the country’s Anti-Money Laundering and the Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) system.

“South Africa’s progress in addressing the AML/CFT deficiencies and exiting the FATF greylist represents a major policy and institutional achievement for the people of South Africa, particularly following the weakening of key law enforcement and other institutions during the state capture era.

“However, while exiting the greylist is an important milestone and a demonstration of South Africa’s commitment to rebuilding the rule of law, it is only start of a broader process to continue to strengthen key institutions, improve enforcement and governance processes, and ensure that such improvements are sustainable and that our systems become increasingly effective in combating money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation financing.

“Neither government agencies nor regulated entities in the private sector can afford to become complacent and stop improving. Instead, through public-private collaboration, they must continue to strengthen the AML/CFT system,” National Treasury emphasised.

The FATF requires countries that have exited the greylist to demonstrate continued commitment through measurable outcomes, including successful investigations, prosecutions, and sanctions as they relate to AML/CFT.

These actions will form the basis of the next FATF Mutual Evaluation for South Africa, which is expected to commence in the first half of 2026 and conclude in October 2027.

“To prevent being placed back on the greylist, it is important that systems of monitoring and enforcement work more efficiently and effectively, and that there are no gaps, by the time of the Mutual Evaluation. Preparations, in this regard, have already begun and we remain confident that South Africa will be able to sustain the progress made,” National Treasury said.

The department has congratulated Nigeria, Mozambique and Burkina Faso, which were also delisted from the FATF greylist.

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Operation Catalyst was coordinated by Interpol and Afripol between July and September 2025 in Angola, Cameroon, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, and South Sudan and aimed to identify and disrupt financial flows and schemes found to have connections to terrorism financing and its support networks.

Of the 83 arrests, 21 were for terrorism-related crimes, 28 were for financial fraud and money laundering, 16 were linked to cyber-enabled scams and a further 18 were related to the illicit use of virtual assets.

Over the two-month operation, authorities across participating countries screened more than 15 000 persons of interest and entities, uncovering around $260 million in both fiat and virtual currencies potentially linked to terrorism-related activities. Approximately $600 000 has already been seized, with additional investigations underway to trace and recover further assets, Interpol said in a statement on 22 October.

Tackling terrorist financing is particularly complex for law enforcement, as it often cuts across diverse criminal activities, including fraud, kidnapping for ransom, illicit trade, online scams, Ponzi schemes and the misuse of virtual assets. These illegal activities can be linked to terrorism financing directly—when terrorist groups receive funds from such schemes—or indirectly, through money laundering or intermediary networks. These connections highlight how different forms of crime are increasingly intertwined, underscoring the need for a united and coordinated response, Interpol explained.

To tackle this multifaceted threat, participating countries shared intelligence on significant targets at the pre-operation phase. This was supplemented by strategic cyber intelligence from Interpol and Afripol with key data from private-sector entities Binance, Moody’s and Uppsala Security.

In one significant case from Angola, 25 individuals of multiple nationalities were detained following investigations into informal value transfer systems that were identified as connected to potential terrorist financing and money laundering. The operation included the inspection of 30 commercial establishments, where police seized approximately $588 000, 100 mobile phones and 40 computers. Sixty bank accounts were also frozen.

In Kenya, a suspected money laundering operation using a virtual asset service provider was identified as having potential links to terrorism financing. The scheme, worth approximately $430 000, involved 12 people, two of whom have so far been arrested. In a separate case in Kenya, two individuals were arrested for the online recruitment of young people from East and North Africa into terrorist groups. The funds used for the recruitment and radicalization were traced through a cryptocurrency trading platform, back to individuals in Tanzania.

In Nigeria, the operation led to the arrest of 11 suspected terrorists, including high-level members of several terrorist groups.

One notable transnational case involved a massive cryptocurrency-based Ponzi scheme, which claimed to be a legitimate online trading platform, affected at least 17 countries around the word, including Cameroon, Kenya, and Nigeria. The scheme accumulated more than 100 000 victims around the world, with an estimated loss to victims of $562 million. The investigations related to Operation Catalyst found that several large-valued wallets were potentially linked to terrorism financing activities. The case is still ongoing, with investigations currently in progress.

As part of Operation Catalyst, a Red Notice was also issued for an individual thought to be behind a sophisticated cryptocurrency scheme which scammed victims of approximately $5 million. The scam redirected funds to multiple addresses and centralized exchange platforms to obscure the trail and convert the assets into fiat currency. Investigators believe the case exhibits several traits consistent with known terrorist financing methodologies.

“Operation Catalyst is the first time financial crime, cybercrime and counter-terrorism units from multiple African countries have joined forces with Interpol and Afripol to target the financing of terrorism. By sharing intelligence, expertise and resources, we can more effectively identify and disrupt the financial flows that support terrorist activities to stay one step ahead of these threats and keep our communities safe,” said Interpol Secretary General Valdecy Urquiza.

“The success of Operation Catalyst lies in the synergy and convergence of efforts among national units combating financial crime, cybercrime, and terrorism. This joint endeavour, dedicated to disrupting the financing of terrorism across the African continent, illustrates how coordinated action between Member States, facilitated by Afripol and Interpol, can effectively address complex and evolving security threats. Such cooperation stands as tangible proof that Africa’s law-enforcement community, when united, offers a decisive and appropriate response in the pursuit of a secure and stable Africa,” said Ambassador Jalel Chelba, Afripol’s Executive Director.

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The committee met on Wednesday night to receive legal opinion on the participation of certain members, the committee’s request to extend its lifespan and the identification of further witnesses, among other things.

The committee was informed that the Speaker has granted it an extension until 28 November 2025 to finalise its work. Members welcomed this extension, as it provides for additional time for the committee to execute its mandate. The committee was initially given until the end of October to finalise its work.

Committee chairperson Molapi Soviet Lekganyane made the request to National Assembly (NA) Speaker on behalf of the committee. The request was made after the committee encountered delays in starting with its public hearings.

The committee also received an update on the public participation process. The committee heard that so far 325 submissions have been received. The deadline for input from the public on Lt Gen Mkhwanazi’s allegations was 17 October.

Regarding the legal opinion on the participation of “conflicted” members, it reads: “… in the circumstances, we hasten to opine that the cases that were opened by the affected members before the initiation of the subject enquiry, do not exhibit bias or give rise to a reasonable apprehension thereof.” The opinion further reads that in the view of a reasonable observer, “if aware of these cases, would consider that they were registered before the commencement of the committee hearings. Such observer would also be aware of the fact that the cases were registered, not in the context of the enquiry, but in the context of apparent contradictory versions made by Mr Mchunu, MP, both in the public domain and before a committee of Parliament regarding his association with Mr Brown Mogotsi. Moreover, it is the National Prosecuting Authority that will determine whether there are any prospects of success in prosecuting the said cases.”

This legal opinion refers to committee member David Skosana and Ms Lisa-Mare Schickerling, who had laid criminal charges against Minister Senzo Mchunu and Lieutenant General Shadrack Sibiya.

The committee was further informed about legal advice obtained by the Democratic Alliance (DA), which found there is no basis for committee member Dianne Kohler-Barnard to excuse herself or be removed from the parliamentary inquiry into allegations of corruption in the criminal justice system. The DA sought the legal opinion after Mkhwanazi accused Kohler-Barnard of disclosing classified intelligence information at the parliamentary inquiry and the Malanga Commission, an allegation she has denied.

Committee member Advocate Glynnis Breytenbach said the conclusion reached by the legal advice was that there was no factual basis to conclude that Kohler-Barnard was biased, conflicted and could not participate in the inquiry. She has been under pressure from several committee members to recuse herself from its proceedings.

Next week, committee members will be given an opportunity to pose questions to Mchunu. The committee is also expected to hear from former Police Minister Gen Bheki Cele. The committee also finalised a list of high-ranking SAPS officials that will be called to appear before it.

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This as the JSCI informed the President that it had received a complaint regarding the conduct of the Inspector-General, and that the committee would conduct an investigation in accordance with Section 7(4) and 7(5) of the Intelligence Services Oversight Act (Act 40 of 1994).

Section 7(5) of the Act stipulates that “if the Inspector-General is the subject of an investigation by the (JSCI) in terms of subsection (4), he or she may be suspended by the President pending a decision in such investigation.”

“Mr Fazel has been suspended with immediate effect,” the Presidency said in a statement on Wednesday.

While details of the complaint remain confidential, the move signals the government’s commitment to transparency and legislative oversight within the intelligence community.

Appointed to the post in November 2022, Fazel’s five-year term is set to end in October 2027.

The Inspector-General of Intelligence’s mandate includes monitoring and reviewing the operations of South Africa’s intelligence services the State Security Agency (SSA), Defence Intelligence Division of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and the Crime Intelligence Division of the South African Police Service (SAPS) to ensure they operate within the framework of the law and the Constitution.

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