National Treasury on January 14 published the draft General Laws Amendment Bill for public comment, which relates to anti-money laundering and combating terrorism financing.

Interested parties have until February 13 to make submissions.

The draft Bill is an updated version of the draft General Laws Amendment Bill 2024 that was published for public comment in December 2024. Treasury subsequently expanded the draft Bill to incorporate amendments related to nonprofit organisations and the conducting of lifestyle audits.

These additions better prepare South Africa for the next Financial Action Task Force (FATF) mutual evaluation for the country that will start in mid-2026 and conclude in October 2027.

The draft Bill ultimately seeks to strengthen the country’s anti-money laundering and combatting terrorism financing system by addressing the remaining deficiencies of the system as identified by the FATF mutual evaluation report for South Africa in 2021.

The FATF also made suggestions for improvement of South Africa’s financial system when the country strived to exit the FATF greylist in October 2025.

The draft Amendment Bill was developed by Treasury, the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic), the Department of Social Development (DSD), the Financial Intelligence Centre and financial sector regulators.

It proposes amendments that fall under the administrative responsibilities of different Ministers: the Financial Intelligence Centre Act and Financial Sector Regulation Act, which fall under Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana; the Companies Act, which falls under the dtic; and the Nonprofit Organisations Act, which is governed by the DSD.

Once all submissions have been received and reviewed by Treasury and the various departments, revisions will be made before submission to Cabinet and subsequent tabling in Parliament.