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As tangible action against state capture masterminds, the Gupta brothers and Salim Essa, is taken by US authorities, the world spotlight is back on corporations that have aided and abetted the corrupt in South Africa.
Former McKinsey CEO and Goldman Sachs director, Rajat Gupta has just surfaced after spending time in prison after he was found guilty of insider trading.
Professional services consultancy McKinsey is in the headlines again in connection with unethical – and illegal – business behaviour.
The media spotlight is sharply focused on McKinsey, with journalists around the world piecing together its work for authoritarian and corrupt governments.
McKinsey has actively nurtured the world’s nastiest political leaders and helped entrench systems that suppress democracy and human rights.
South African lawmakers have accused McKinsey of possible criminal wrongdoing in a report that condemns the consultant’s work for power utility Eskom.
Not only have firms like Bain, McKinsey and KPMG enjoyed an easy ride – they’ve behaved like thugs by helping to raid taxpayers’ funds.
Global consultancy firm McKinsey has responded to reports about a National Treasury draft report having found it paid for former Transnet and Eskom CFO, Anoj Singh, to travel overseas to attend a CFO Forum.
A mea culpa from McKinsey’s boss Kevin Sneader earlier this month increasingly appears to be hollow, especially following a City Press report over the weekend that revealed how the consultancy firm’s fleecing of Eskom and Transnet was much bigger than previously thought.
This week’s release of financial results from South Africa’s State-owned electricity supplier Eskom was always going to be worth watching. It marked the first public engagement of a fresh board of directors installed 69 days earlier by a forceful new political head. The occasion lived up to its billing.