Hawks boss lauds partnership with business sector to bolster digital forensic investigations

The capacity to transform digital and hard copy bank statements into an electronic analysis format is one of the Digital and Financial Forensic Analysis Centre’s technological breakthroughs in its first year. This significantly reduces data processing time, allowing for faster data analysis and more efficient money flow detection.

On Wednesday, 11 December, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) and its partners, the South African Banking Risk Information Centre (Sabric) and the Banking Association South Africa (Basa), presented an assessment of the centre’s achievements since its inception.

The Hawks, Basa and Sabric developed the centre in November 2023. It forms part of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s collaboration with the business sector.

On Wednesday, Hawks head Lieutenant General Godfrey Lebeya said the crime-fighting body functioned within a fast-developing digital landscape and organised crime had forced the Hawks to advance its digital investigation systems.

With support from the business sector, the centre provides software, hardware and technical support for use in the investigation of money laundering and terrorism funding, among other financial crimes.

Its goal was to bolster South Africa’s capacity to investigate and prosecute financial crime by making cutting-edge digital and financial forensic analysis capacity available to the Hawks.

Achievements a year later

Sabric CEO Nischal Mewallall said 64 people worked in the Digital and Financial Forensic Analysis Centre (comprising 58 Hawks and six technical support staff), with skills in digital and financial forensics and data management.

He said the team had access to a larger group of IT and data science specialists who had successfully built processes to analyse value chains.

The centre can convert digital and hard copy bank statements into an electronic analytical format, significantly reducing data processing time and allowing for faster analysis and more efficient money flow detection. 

Citing the centre’s achievements, Mewallall said:

• More than 114 bank statements that spanned years with millions of transactions had already been processed using this technology. As a result, the Hawks had processed 147 cases and 910 exhibits. This had led to shorter investigation times and quicker prosecutorial decisions.


• A specialised training curriculum covering both digital and financial forensics for investigators, prosecutors and forensic experts had been developed and 68 Hawks members had already been training on this programme.


• 782 other law enforcement officials had been trained on how to analyse bank statements.

On 28 November, the digital service of Section 205 subpoenas was introduced, allowing investigators to digitally subpoena bank records. During the inaugural launch, the Hawks successfully served 10 subpoenas through this digital platform.

The Hawks in Gauteng are now connected to 11 banks via a secure communication network, which allows them to serve subpoenas electronically. Banks can acknowledge receipt and respond to information requests through the same platform, streamlining the process, he said.

“This development marks a significant milestone in the modernisation and digital transformation of investigative procedures. Most importantly, it reduces investigation timelines and facilitates faster prosecutorial decisions.

“In the coming year, we aim to expand this initiative to all nine provinces and eventually roll it out nationally for the South African Police Service (SAPS),” said Mewallall.

Mewallall says the partnership between Basa, Sabric and the Hawks is not only an example of collaboration at its best but also a testament to what can be achieved when innovation meets determination.

“These advancements are more than milestones; they are pivotal strides toward removing South Africa from the FATF grey list, bolstering economic confidence and promoting a culture of accountability,” he said.

Read more: SA’s exit from greylisting may be pushed out from June 2025 to October 2025 …or later

Digital forensics crucial

Hawks boss Lebeya said digital forensics played a crucial role in serious organised crime, serious commercial crime and serious corruption investigations.

He emphasised that combating corruption and money laundering could not be undertaken by a single agency acting in isolation, no matter how competent this agency and its staff might be. 

“The impact of technology on modern criminal investigations transforms and reshapes the way the Hawks approach the investigation of national priority offences.

“As technology continues to advance, the criminal justice system must navigate the ethical and legal considerations associated with these advancements, ensuring that the pursuit of justice remains just, transparent and respectful of individual rights in the digital age,” Lebeya said.

“The establishment of the digital Section 205 subpoena will not only assist to bring the Hawks investigators closer to those they are seeking, but also ensure that the financial trail ensures the recovery of assets bought with money amassed from ill-gotten gains.”

This, Lebeya said, was just the beginning, and that the project would help take the Hawks’ investigation techniques to greater heights. 

Benefits of government-business partnership

Dr Graham Wright, CEO of Business Against Crime South Africa (Bacsa), said the collaboration between government and the business sector resulted in the formation of the Joint Initiative on Crime and Corruption (JICC).

The JICC played a critical role in forging cooperation between the private sector and the many government agencies and departments across the criminal justice system, said Wright.

Read more: After the Bell: The possibilities – and limits – of the government-business partnership

“Business provides defined support on an arms’ length basis, respecting the independence of the justice system, especially the autonomy and professional independence of the various agencies and departments of the criminal justice system, including the Hawks, the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption, the National Prosecuting Authority, the SAPS, the South African Revenue Service and the Special Investigating Unit.

“Initiatives undertaken through the JICC structure include bolstering the forensic capabilities of the Hawks to combat financial and digital crimes – this initiative. This partnership is an example of the benefits which can be derived for the country through a structured partnership which tackles a national imperative,” Wright said. DM