Upstreaming offers SA a smarter response to organised crime and corruption

As justice systems worldwide grapple with tech-driven financial crime, disruption and early intervention are becoming vital prevention tools.

Published on 26 March 2026 in ISS Today

Colette Ashton
Research Consultant, Justice and Violence Prevention Programme, ISS Pretoria

South Africa – one of the world’s youngest democracies – is currently resisting the global trend towards authoritarianism. The country has a strong culture of free speech, a multi-party governing coalition and a generally independent media and judiciary. However, one of the greatest challenges to its democracy is difficult to detect and thrives in secrecy.

Hidden organised crime and corruption networks are a driving force behind democratic decline worldwide. According to a 2025 Council of the European Union report, ‘Research shows a strong correlation between state capture and the spread of organised crime, with both phenomena reinforcing each other and corroding institutional integrity.’ The erosion of democratic institutions by organised crime and state capture paves the way for authoritarianism.

Although South Africa is showing signs of institutional resilience, its high levels of crime and corruption pose a threat to democracy that may be hard to resist.

In this troubling context, is the country’s approach to corruption and organised crime fit for purpose? As in most countries, the criminal justice system struggles to cope with modernised, technology-driven financial crime. Conventional justice systems are reactive and fragmented, allowing criminal networks to adapt faster than the state.

The erosion of democratic institutions by organised crime and state capture paves the way for authoritarianism

This year’s State of the Nation Address seems to signal a new approach to the problem. President Cyril Ramaphosa’s language was uncharacteristically forceful, promising ‘a hard-hitting new criminal justice reform initiative in the Presidency’ to ‘crack down on organised crime and corruption.’

He pledged a ‘national illicit economy disruption programme that brings together key state agencies and other stakeholders, including the private sector.’ Also, ‘an integrated strategy to address the root causes of crime through coordinated interventions across society, from street lighting to access to social services.’

His plans include elements of the upstreaming approach, which moves intervention points to earlier in the illicit money lifecycle – from reaction to disruption, and from enforcement to risk mitigation. The key feature is strategic planning at the highest level of government that drives alignment across institutions.

Too often, state agencies operate in siloes, focusing on narrow mandates. They compete to achieve their own performance metrics at the expense of inter-agency cooperation, creating gaps that criminal networks exploit.

Alignment requires changing how performance is measured. The National Anti-Corruption Advisory Council recommends realigning the current incentive structure for anti-corruption agencies to support cooperation. Success may not be easy to detect – a crime that does not happen is an invisible achievement that is impossible to measure, and that generates no headlines.

Government has vast amounts of information but generates limited actionable intelligence about financial crime

Organised crime and corruption usually leave digital footprints. Beneficial owners register shell companies with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission, open bank accounts, and bid for tenders. Each transaction generates data. Leveraging technology to analyse these data points can reveal red flags and expose risks.

Currently, agencies in South Africa do not share data effectively, and analytics capabilities vary. As a result, the government has vast amounts of information but generates limited actionable intelligence about financial crime. Upstreaming requires a shift from passive record-keeping to data sharing and active risk detection.

But upstreaming is about more than data. South Africa already has upstream capabilities – if government leaders chose to deploy them strategically. Many upstream agencies did not feature in Ramaphosa’s address, and their capacity is yet to be fully harnessed.

Regulatory bodies such as the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission license businesses and set compliance standards. With an expanded mandate and the necessary powers, they could enforce anti-corruption standards and increase transparency regarding beneficial ownership.

The Public Administration Ethics, Integrity and Disciplinary Technical Assistance Unit in the Department of Public Service and Administration is a small unit of nine staff that makes recommendations to improve government integrity. Giving it more personnel and power to impose sanctions for failure to follow its recommendations could be part of South Africa’s game-changing plan.

The new Public Procurement Act (28 of 2024) provides for a Public Procurement Office to act as a ‘watchdog’ over procurement institutions and practices. The statute also provides for a debarment process and a tribunal for oversight.

Upstreaming requires a shift from passive record-keeping to data sharing and active risk detection

The Public Service Commission oversees many government staff, but does not have the ability to take binding remedial action, unlike its more powerful cousin, the Public Protector.

So what could success in South Africa look like?

Imagine a country where procurement data is recorded in a blockchain, is 100% public and machine-readable, and enables real-time analysis. The South African Revenue Service and National Prosecuting Authority share data seamlessly. Government officials implicated in financial misconduct are not re-employed, and regulatory agencies treat prevention as a core mandate rather than an afterthought.

Imagine a Public Administration Ethics, Integrity and Disciplinary Technical Assistance Unit with hundreds of staff who monitor and enforce integrity standards across government in partnership with an empowered Public Service Commission. Imagine a business sector that sets sector-wide integrity standards enforced through collective action.

South Africans are good at criticising the government and, unlike many other nations, have civic space to do so. But we should not imagine that the country’s constitution guarantees the survival of democracy.

Former chief justice Raymond Zondo, who chaired the state capture inquiry, has emphasised that when leaders act against organised crime and corruption, citizens must support them. The country’s new approach to organised crime and corruption sets a valuable path forward, and South Africans must demand to see it in action.

Join South Africa’s criminal justice and business leaders on 27 March for a discussion on upstreaming interventions to prevent organised crime and corruption. Register here.

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