South Africa’s corruption makes it a risk to the global financial system

Excerpt

President Trump took the world by surprise when he cut off U.S. foreign aid to South Africa earlier this year. In a February executive order, he cited Pretoria’s “aggressive positions towards the United States and its allies, including accusing Israel, not Hamas, of genocide in the International Court of Justice, and reinvigorating its relations with Iran to develop commercial, military, and nuclear arrangements.”

Missing from the order, however, was any reference to South Africa’s role as a global hub of corruption and illicit finance.

That omission matters. Once viewed as a symbol of hope and freedom under the leadership of Nelson Mandela, South Africa has become a permissive environment for America’s adversaries. China, Russia, Iran, and terrorist groups such as Hamas now look to South Africa as an ideal jurisdiction for laundering money, moving weapons and undermining U.S. and allied interests.

Max Meizlish, a former sanctions official at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, is a senior research analyst for the Center on Economic and Financial Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, where Elaine K. Dezenski serves as senior director. She is also a former Department of Homeland Security deputy and acting assistant secretary.