Shop

Despite its strong GDP and position as Africa's third largest economy, South Africa is beset by high levels of unemployment and inequality, which have only been aggravated by the pandemic. This economic landscape, set in Africa’s fifth most populous country and against a backdrop of rich precious and base metal reserves, has contributed to a perfect storm of illegal mining and gold smuggling, propped up by human trafficking and organised crime group activity. Weapons and drugs trafficking, alongside fraud, bribery and corruption, cybercrime and environmental crime also represent a palpable risk to which companies operating in or with South Africa can be exposed. For more detail, consult our country risk report, which examines South Africa’s legal and regulatory approach to financial crime and analyses the nature of financial crime threats that arise from the country’s political and economic landscape.