The government may amend the Financial Intelligence Centre Act (Fica) to give it more stringency in the fight against money laundering and international terrorism.
Minister of Safety and Security Charles Nqakula — as chairperson of the justice, crime prevention and security (JCPS) cluster of ministries — told reporters at Parliament on Wednesday that the cluster will strengthen counter-measures against money laundering and the funding of international terrorism.
”This may result in the review of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act to give the Financial Intelligence Centre wider supervisory powers,” he said.
The Act currently provides for the reporting of ”suspicious transactions” by financial and other institutions to the centre for investigation.
These suspicious acts include money transfers exceeding R100 000 and the purchase of specialised goods including expensive cars.
This information, however, may not be used as evidence in court, which Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Johnny de Langa said is rather pointless.
”It is all good and well to let everyone report, but if you don’t have the power to follow up, to check, to verify, then it’s absolutely toothless,” he said.
He said the decision to extend the powers is still under debate, but if the Act is amended the centre could become an effective tool in the fight against organised crime.
”But at this stage we can’t use it in court cases … so is it really useful? I mean, is it really worth the money we are spending on it?” he asked.
Since the centre’s inception in February 2003, it has received 33 435 reports of suspicious financial transactions.
Nqakula said these reports are a positive outcome of improved coordination between the JCPS and other government departments, including the South African Revenue Service and the asset forfeiture unit.
Without disclosing statistics, Nqakula said certain criminal acts have been unearthed by the reporting system and are being investigated.
In a drive to expand the intelligence-gathering capabilities in Africa, South Africa’s intelligence bodies earlier this week hosted a financial intelligence workshop attended by 14 East and Southern African countries.
”It is our hope that the seeds would have been planted during the session to build a solid foundation toward the establishment on the African continent of regimes to counter all financial transactions that relate to organised crime and terrorism,” he said.
Fica, however, is not the only thing up for review. Nqakula announced that Minister of Intelligence Ronnie Kasrils has established a task team to review legislation pertaining to the ministry.
Nqakula said this is not a direct result of the recent debacle in which top spies were dismissed for allegedly spying on a South African businessman.
”The intention of the review is to determine whether there are any gaps or ambiguities that need tightening up. This includes a possible review of the White Paper on Intelligence in order to bring it up to date with the experiences of the past 11 years,” he said.
This will further clarify the mandate of the intelligence services, especially regarding counter-intelligence and counter-terrorism.
But he said the mandate of the task team has been extended to include a review of the internal policies of the intelligence agencies — ”in order to ensure that they are adequate in ensuring that the agencies comply with constitutionality and legality”.
Task team leader Barry Gilder said the team will advise Kasrils on any amendments required. — Sapa