Xolisile Khanyile

Adv Xolisile Khanyile is a career prosecutor having served different roles in law enforcement agencies for a period of 23 years.  Xolisile served in a senior position in the Asset Forfeiture Unit for a period of more than 5 years and was appointed by the President of South Africa as a Director of Public Prosecutions (“DPP”) for a period of 8 years, 2 years in the South Gauteng Division as the Acting DPP and 6 years in the Free State Division as the DPP. Since January 2018, she holds the position of Director of the Financial Intelligence Centre (the FIC) of South Africa where she is responsible for the strategic and operational functioning of the FIC ensuring the fulfillment of its mandate both domestically and internationally.  She currently holds the position of Egmont Group Chair, a position she was appointed to in July 2022. As part of her duties as Director, Xolisile represents both the FIC and the Government of South Africa at various international events, allowing her to build necessary relationships with essential stakeholders.

 Xolisile has conducted several training sessions, nationally and internationally, for prosecutors and investigators including the International Symposium on Corruption Hosted by the University of the Free State in 2013 and the International Strategy to Combat Illicit Trafficking in Precious Metals held in Cape Town by the United Nations Inter-regional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) on 8-9 March 2016. Nationally, she presented a paper at the 2016 National Traffic Indaba, Black Association Legal Education Centre: High Court Motion and Ethics Workshop. Xolisile has also provided training on financial crimes, sexual offences, asset forfeiture, corruption, human trafficking and environmental matters for the Africa Prosecutors Association to numerous countries in Africa including Mozambique, Mauritius, Angola and the DRC. 

Xolisile holds a B Juris and a LLB degree from the University of Zululand, MDP from the Business School of the University of Free State (UFS) and a LLM from the UFS respectively. She attended the Duke University African Women Charted Accountants’ Women Leading Africa Programme in 2015 and graduated in 2016. She also attended the 4th Innovative Road Safety Management Leadership Programme in Melbourne, Australia in 2015.