GOOD Speech by Brett Herron,
GOOD Secretary-General & Member of Parliament
2 May 2023
Note: This is the speech that was delivered by GOOD Secretary-General and Member of Parliament, Brett Herron, during today’s debate on Urgent Matter of National Importance: The economic impact of the Financial Action Task Force grey listing of South Africa and the steps required to exit it.
Madam Speaker,
A few years ago, a well-known South African politician disingenuously suggested that the falling value of the Rand could be reversed by simply picking it up.
The comment reflected the ruling party’s inability to understand the link between fiscal integrity and financial well-being in the development of the nation.
Now we’ve been greylisted, and we can’t simply reverse it by changing the colour of the printer ink because it, too, relates to integrity.
In National Treasury’s own words:
“The most significant implication to a country that is grey listed is the reputational damage to the country, as its effectiveness in combatting financial crimes like corruption and money-laundering as well as terror financing are deemed to be below international standards.”
The greylisting doesn’t compel us to do anything. It is effectively a negative finding of our fiduciary character. The Financial Action Task Force encourages its members to take information presented in its risk analyses seriously.
South Africa’s poor reputation for combatting financial crimes like corruption and money-laundering was at its peak during the FATF’s assessment phase.
The outcome of the assessment was therefore not a shock to our markets and has had little or no impact on our economic growth projections.
Should government fail to work rapidly to implement the remedial measures to address eight areas of strategic deficiencies by the end of 2024, as agreed, there could be real and detrimental impacts on our economic prospects and our credit rating.
Getting off the greylist is therefore important. But the real urgent matter of national importance is the lethal combination of our low economic growth rate, the economy’s inability to generate jobs, degrading poverty, lack of financial support for the unemployed, and the energy crisis. A poisonous cycle.
If our country doesn’t prioritise addressing these overwhelming failures then our greylisting will matter little because socio-economic fractures will continue to weaken our nation, and our reputation will become irredeemable.
We implore the National Treasury to get us off the grey list by 2025.
But, while it threads that needle, restoring South Africa as a desirable destination for legitimate cash flows is a much bigger picture.
Job creation and a comprehensive social security system are critical colours in this picture of common purpose and social cohesion.
Media Enquiries:
Brett Herron, GOOD Secretary-General & Member of Parliament
Cell: 0825183264
Email: bretth@forgood.org.za
Janke Tolmay, GOOD Media Manager
Cell: 0733671223
Email: janke@forgood.org.za