EDITORIAL: Eskom is rotten to the core
McKinsey’s reputation and global standing may be just as much at risk as those of KPMG
So Eskom has at last written to global management consultancy McKinsey and its Gupta-linked partner Trillian to demand that they pay back the money. Eskom paid the consultancies more than R1.6bn in "risk-based" fees for just six months’ work on a contract that, it is now crystal-clear, should never have been signed. It was unlawful, because Eskom had not sought or obtained permission from the Treasury for this deviation from the rules on fee calculations for consultants. There is evidence to suggest the contract, and the payments, were also fraudulent. Eskom has taken more than two months to deliver the letter of demand, which was drafted by law firm Bowmans after its investigation of the Eskom/McKinsey/Trillian saga. Eskom’s auditors qualified its last set of annual financial statements because of dodgy procurement. If Eskom cannot get the money back from McKinsey and Trillian, it faces another severely qualified audit report, which will do further damage to Eskom’s ability to fund...
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