Modern slavery and human trafficking (MSHT) remains a complex, adaptive and under-reported crime that is sustained by systems capable of moving people and money with speed, secrecy and impunity. South Africa is exposed to these dynamics as a source, transit and destination country, and as a relevant node in trafficking-linked financial flows. This report, Follow the money: Two years on

South Africa’s exposure to illicit financial flows (IFF) via trade and payments is material, cross-border, and multi-channel. External evidence highlights commodity-centric risks – especially gold – and persistent partner country discrepancies characteristic of trade mis-invoicing. Supervisory insights, aggregated from anonymised bank returns, show how value moves through the regulated sector on high-velocity retail rails, via cards and E F Ts, and along trade payment

Africa’s ambition to deepen regional integration and expand intra-African trade depends not only on the movement of goods, services and capital, but also on the ability to establish trust across borders. For financial institutions, knowing who a customer is – remains fundamental to maintaining the integrity of the financial system. Yet increasingly digital and cross-border financial activity is exposing the