Consultancy Bain & Co has replaced its SA head and offered to pay back money earned for work done at the SA Revenue Service (Sars), which it admits was used for a “different agenda” than originally intended. Bain, one of the top three global consulting firms, said in a statement on Sunday that managing partner Vittorio Massone has stepped down and that it does not want to benefit financially from the work, for which it was paid R164m. The firm has become the latest multinational to be embroiled in state capture. It was contracted, allegedly via an irregular tender process, to overhaul the structure of Sars under suspended commissioner Tom Moyane when he took over in 2014.

The commission of inquiry into governance and administration at Sars, chaired by retired judge Robert Nugent, has heard how the increase in VAT for the first time in two decades — which has hit the economy and the poor hard — was necessary partly by the revenue shortfall of R50bn by Sars in 2017-18. The inqui...

Subscribe now to unlock this article.

Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).

There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.

Cancel anytime.

Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.

Speech Bubbles

Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.