SA’s Exchange Control Overhaul: Navigating the Biggest Shift in 65 Years

The regulations that govern how your money moves in and out of South Africa are about to change.

The Exchange Control Regulations of 1961 have governed every international payment you have ever made as a South African business or individual. Every time you paid an overseas supplier, received a foreign payment, moved money offshore, or applied for a SARB approval - those regulations were the framework behind it.

They have been in force since 1 December 1961. Sixty-five years.

But in April 2026, National Treasury published draft Capital Flow Management Regulations to replace them entirely. Following intense industry feedback, the public comment period has been extended to 30 June 2026, but make no mistake: the final regulations are coming, and when they are officially gazetted, the 1961 rulebook disappears and a new one takes its place.

What has already changed -  in force from 8 April 2026.

Before we cover the broader framework still in draft, it is worth knowing that several concrete changes are already in force.

The SARB issued a suite of nine exchange control circulars on 8 April 2026 implementing Budget-linked changes immediately. Here are the key highlights your business can already use:

• Single Discretionary Allowance: R1 million per adult resident per year, now R2 million. Can be used for any legal purpose abroad, including investment.

• Card payments for imports, services and subscriptions: R50,000 per transaction, now R100,000. A single transaction above the limit may not be split to avoid the threshold.

• Miscellaneous transfers to non-residents: R100,000, now R200,000.

• Rand notes when travelling: R25,000 per person, now R100,000.

• Merchanting settlement: businesses that buy from a foreign supplier and sell to a foreign buyer now have a uniform four-month window between paying the supplier and receiving payment from the buyer. Previously: 60 days for African trade, 30 days everywhere else.

• Inward foreign loans and trade finance: prescriptive interest rate caps removed. The rate must now be market-related in the country of denomination and/or normal in the relevant trade. Reporting through the SARB Loan Reporting System still applies.

These are not proposed changes. They are live today.

Why the name change matters more than you might think.

The shift from 'Exchange Control' to 'Capital Flow Management' is not just a rebrand. It signals a fundamental change in philosophy.

Exchange control says: we restrict money at the point of transaction. Every payment is controlled unless explicitly permitted.

Capital flow management says: we monitor and manage flows, with a positive bias toward allowing them. Pre-approvals are replaced by reporting. Oversight is focused on high-risk and high-value transactions - not every routine payment.

For businesses making regular international payments, this shift from restriction to management is meaningful. The intent, at least, is less friction for compliant businesses and more scrutiny for genuinely high-risk flows.

The four proposed changes that matter most for businesses.

1. Fewer pre-approvals, more reporting.

The biggest practical shift is the move away from pre-approval for routine transactions. Under the new framework, the focus is on reporting - businesses prove compliance after the fact through documentation rather than waiting for sign-off before a payment can go out.

For importers and exporters making regular payments, this should mean faster processing. Payments that currently sit waiting for bank approval could move more freely once the regulations are in force.

2. Hard-coded rand limits are gone.

The 1961 regulations had fixed rand thresholds written into the rules. Every time those thresholds needed to change, the regulations had to be formally amended — a slow process.

Under the new framework, thresholds are set and updated by Gazette notice. The minister can adjust them without a full regulatory amendment. This means the Single Discretionary Allowance doubling from R1 million to R2 million - implemented through SARB Circular 6/2026 in April 2026 - is exactly the kind of responsive adjustment the new framework is designed to enable more regularly.

3. Businesses controlled from outside South Africa get clarity.

One of the longstanding grey areas in the 1961 regulations was how they applied to South African businesses that are majority-owned or controlled by non-residents. The new regulations address this directly and remove the ambiguity.

4. Crypto assets enter the exchange control framework.

This is the change that triggered the massive regulatory overhaul. A High Court ruling found that crypto assets did not fall under the existing definition of 'capital' in the 1961 regulations - meaning cross-border crypto transfers were effectively outside exchange control altogether.

The new regulations fix that. Crypto assets are formally classified as capital. Cross-border crypto transfers will require appropriate capital flow management measures going forward.

For the vast majority of DG Capital's clients - businesses and individuals making traditional international payments - this change is background noise. For anyone using crypto for cross-border settlements or intra-group transfers, it is material.

What happens during the transition?

With the comment period extended through June 2026, the Exchange Control Regulations of 1961 remain fully in force for now. Nothing changes for your business operations today.

When the final regulations are published, transitional arrangements will apply - the new framework will not simply switch on overnight. Existing approvals and structures will be recognised. This extension gives businesses a vital, proactive window to prepare.

What this means in plain terms.

If you run a business that imports or exports - this regulatory change is broadly positive. The intent is fewer delays, faster payments, and a framework that treats compliant businesses as trusted participants rather than potential risks.

Our Take

While Treasury is pitching this as a modern shift to a 'positive bias' model, the reality on the ground is that the burden of proof has simply shifted. In the past, the bank stopped you before money went out. In the new system, the transaction moves faster, but you must have a bulletproof, post-transaction audit trail.

The single biggest trap I see business owners falling into is confusing 'less friction' with 'less regulation.' It is actually the opposite. The SARB is swapping out its gatekeepers for an advanced surveillance and reporting framework. If your paperwork is not immaculate when a reporting audit hits, the compliance penalties under a modernised framework are going to be sharp.

This is where working with an experienced exchange control operator matters - someone who knows what the new reporting requirements look like and can keep your payments moving cleanly through the new system.

The regulations are still in draft. But the direction is clear. And when they land, we will be the first to tell you exactly what they mean for your next payment.