Cyril Ramaphosa was re-elected President of South Africa
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was re-elected and will lead the country's first multi-party coalition government. Cyril won 159 seats, falling short of a majority, to form a national unity government with the Democratic Alliance, the Inkata Freedom Party and the Patriotic Union. After 30 years in power, UNITA will continue to rule for five years, but no longer have a strong majority.
The election has had little impact on the South African cryptocurrency industry. The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has established a cryptocurrency licensing regime, making South Africa one of the first countries in Africa to implement it. Companies such as Luno, Zignaly and VALR have been licensed. South Africa has included crypto services in the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act to regulate digital assets.
The inter-governmental fintech task force plans to review stablecoin use cases and explore the impact of tokenization. From April, South Africa's consultation directive will include cryptocurrencies in travel rules, requiring the transmission of wallet and passport information when transferring money to curb money laundering.