Storm brews over SA's rash of consultants
Ire over billions spent on outsiders to do work that should be done in-house
South Africa's reliance on consultants threatens to open up a can of worms over how global and local consultancy firms rake in billions of rand in fees. In the 2015-16 financial year South Africa spent an estimated R25-billion procuring the services of consultants. In the 2014-15 financial year the spend was R31-billion. An auditor-general's report said South Africa had cumulatively spent R102-billion on consultants between 2008 and 2011. The consultancy space is so lucrative, in fact, that it is bitterly fought over, all the way to the courts. A case is playing out between Trillian CEO Eric Wood and his former associates at Regiments Capital, Litha Nyhonyha and Nevin Pillay. Essentially, the Regiments directors accuse Wood of diverting business away from them. Nyhonyha said state-owned enterprises (SOEs) such as Transnet and Eskom were "big-ticket" items and so far the fallout with Wood has led to material losses from losing business from Transnet, among others, worth R40-million a...
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