A severe downfall in shareholder value, especially with the Government Employees Pension Fund, has been attributed to Steinhoff for inflating its earnings. In 2017, KPMG admitted to manipulating audit reports in favour of firms linked to state capture. Similarly, several multinational banks admitted to manipulating the currency. The Reserve Bank wrote off a R1bn bail-out to Bankorp despite Absa and Sanlam being secondary beneficiaries of the transaction. We’ve grown accustomed to passing harsh judgments on public sector corruption. However, nefarious activities in the private sector are given sophisticated terms to lessen the corruption that gets in the way of socioeconomic transformation. At the core of this corruption is unbridled capitalism with a colonial subtext. Perhaps, as a consequence, we should nationalise local assets of those found with hands in the cookie jar. Communists argue that the inclination of monopoly capital is to make a profit without a care for the consequenc...
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