SA Eyes 50 NPOs for Terror Funds

GREYLISTING: CRACKDOWN WITH DEADLINE LOOMING

- Brian Sokutu

About 50 dubious non-profit organisations (NPOs) in SA are on the government's radar for terrorist funding and money laundering. "They are suspected of being used by foreign terrorist-supporting groupings to come here and recruit people, undermining the sovereignty of the country," the department of social development's acting director-general Peter Netshipale said.

It is part of government's crackdown, following Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendation 8 on NPOs. The department is the registrar and regulator of the non-profit sector.

"Recommendation 8 of FATF talks about the department supervising the work of non-profit sector in the country.

"As the regulator for NPOs we are given a role to supervise and weed out suspected organisations in the sector, through a risk assessment guideline.

"In doing our work, we involve law-enforcement institutions like the SA Police Service, state intelligence and the Special Investigating Unit (SIU)," Netshipale said.