Exploring South Africa’s capacity to criminalise illicit enrichment
| Date | 06 August 2024 |
| Pages | 499-512 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JFC-06-2024-0170 |
| Published date | 06 August 2024 |
| Author | Jacqui-Lyn McIntyre,Duane Aslett,Nico Buitendag |
Exploring South Africa’s capacity
to criminalise illicit enrichment
Jacqui-Lyn McIntyre
School of Accounting Sciences, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa
Duane Aslett
School of Policing Studies, Charles Sturt University, Albury, Australia, and
Nico Buitendag
Faculty of Law, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa
Abstract
Purpose –Illicit enrichment refers to the unjustified increase in the assets of a public official.
Criminalisation of illicit enrichment is required under Article 20 of the United Nations Convention Against
Corruption,and as a State Party, South Africa is thus expected to deal effectivelywith illicit enrichment as an
offence.This paper aims to address different approaches of variousjurisdictions to deal with illicit enrichment
and discusses the elements of the crime, drawing on a South African perspective, to determine how illicit
enrichmentcan be criminalised in South Africa.
Design/methodology/approach –The research methodology used was a critical analysis of the
definition and elements of the crime, as well as the global action taken to implement this offence. A
comparative analysis wasused to compare international frameworks with those of South Africato conclude
on the practicalityand challenges of introducing the offence of illicit enrichment.
Findings –It was found that an element of the crime, in particular the lack of justification, has been a
primary point of criticism, as it is claimed that illicit enrichmentlaws reverse the burden of proof when an
accused is required to prove the legitimacyof his or her assets. However, this issue is not insurmountable in
the South African context,and the paper concludes that the criminalisationof illicit enrichment is possible, as
South Africapossesses the necessary legislation and case law to support such measure.
Originality/value –This paper contributesto the scholarly research on criminalising illicit enrichment in
South Africa.
Keywords Corruption, Illicit enrichment, Lifestyle audits, Public official, Wealth
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
During the 2018 State of the Nation address, the Presidentof South Africa called for lifestyle
audits on public officials, which were set to be implemented in from February 2022
© Jacqui-Lyn McIntyre, Duane Aslett and Nico Buitendag. Published by Emerald Publishing Limited.
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may
reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-
commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of
this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
The authors would like to thank the Workwell Research Unit at the North-West University for its
support in this project, which was completed under the subprogramme ReTORIC (Research and
Teaching in Organised and Integrity Crimes).
Criminalise
illicit
enrichment
499
Journalof Financial Crime
Vol.32 No. 2, 2025
pp. 499-512
EmeraldPublishing Limited
1359-0790
DOI 10.1108/JFC-06-2024-0170
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/1359-0790.htm
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