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Picture: REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
Picture: REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

In mid-December, the presidency issued an unprecedented statement urging Business Unity SA (Busa) to walk back its decision to appoint Bain and McKinsey — the global consultancies implicated in state capture — as project management support for the national energy crisis committee and Business 20 (B20).

It said the appointments do not engender the public’s trust and promotion of good governance. Since then, the high office has avoided business’ invitation to engage regarding its concerns.

This newspaper holds no brief for these two entities. However, it is disturbing that the government, which is the other party to much corruption and state capture, believes it has the right to tell organised business who to partner with. This overreach is unacceptable and deserves to be called out.

Bain, which colluded in the near-destruction of the SA Revenue Service, has made halfhearted attempts to redeem itself. McKinsey, on the other hand, has gone far to remedy the damage it caused.

As well as paying back the ill-gotten fees from the state-owned enterprises (SOEs), McKinsey has publicly apologised, instituted extensive remedial actions to prevent a repeat; sacked the culprits and appointed new leadership, including a black head. It also voluntarily co-operated and assisted SA’s authorities, including the Zondo Commission’s inquiry into state capture.

Of its own volition, McKinsey banned itself from state work. This costly ban is still in place.

Interestingly, during the Covid-19 pandemic, government accepted the private sector’s help, including McKinsey’s, to roll out the vaccination programme.

At the end of his commission, former chief justice Raymond Zondo commended McKinsey’s proactive remedial actions and urged others to follow suit.

Earlier this month, McKinsey settled and paid multimillion-dollar fines to the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and SA’s National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). The latter has criminally charged McKinsey, not Bain.

As is its right, the private sector in this country continues to use the services of McKinsey.

Inexplicably, the NPA has kept the criminal charges.

These are worrying developments; they hardly make sense. People, not corporations, commit crimes including corruption.

Corruption, as was the case during years of state capture, was committed by individuals employed both by private companies and government and SOEs. Both actors must be dealt with harshly as part of sending a message that corruption will not be tolerated.

The NPA has charged numerous South Africans. These prosecutions should proceed speedily.

Restitution is a process. But it should not be an open-ended one.

Government’s actions are sending mixed signals. For a government that desires investment, it is concerning that it should adopt what might be justifiably considered a xenophobic approach to dealing with corruption.

The continued action against McKinsey also weakens the hand of the new leadership which is supposed to be restoring the public’s trust in these companies.

For its part, government has been notoriously slow in acting against those suspected of malfeasance within its ranks.

The call for business to fire McKinsey is not only an inappropriate overreach, but it also smacks of double standards. In the long term, it will also undermine the business-government partnership in reigniting growth and investment in SA’s economy.

After the settlement with the DOJ and NPA, the ball will fall squarely on the NPA. Can it sustain the charges against the global consultancy? 

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