This investigative report reveals how luxury real estate in South Africa has become a haven for laundering funds linked to grand corruption across Africa. By examining case studies involving high-profile figures from Mozambique, the DRC, and Equatorial Guinea, this report highlights the troubling role of South African professionals, including real estate agents and lawyers, who facilitate these transactions, allowing politically connected elites to purchase property with misappropriated funds. The Financial Intelligence Centre has recently warned that such practices obstruct South Africa’s removal from the Financial Action Task Force grey list, underscoring a critical compliance gap within the nation’s property sector.

In this report, we explore the dire consequences of these transactions, from the Mozambican hidden-debt scandal, to Congolese state funds financing luxury properties and Equatorial Guinea’s ruling family’s Cape Town residences amid widespread poverty. These cases expose a systemic issue that allows ill-gotten gains to be hidden in South Africa, posing both socioeconomic and reputational risks.