---

Bain & Co’s role in facilitating state capture has been a significant factor in South Africa’s greylisting by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), with ongoing repercussions for the country’s economy and global reputation. - Public Interest SA chairperson, Tebogo Khaas.

---

Sizwe sama Yende

---

Energy Council of South Africa’s decision to appoint disgraced management consultancy, Bain & Company, as its project management office has been slammed as an affront to the principles of accountability and justice.

Public Interest SA said in its reaction to the appointment that the harm caused by Bain & Co. to South Africa’s economy and governance was immeasurable.

Bain & Co’s role in state capture was highlighted in the Zondo Commission. The international company former South Africa director, Vittorio Massone, allegedly played a pivotal role in the capture of the South African Revenue Service (Sars).

The commission heard that Massone met and liaised with Sars commissioner, Tom Moyane, privately, long before he was officially appointed to lead Sars.

Bain & Co introduced a turnaround strategy for Sars that cost R160 million and led to purging of certain officials.  According to Zondo’s report, “Sars was systemically and deliberately weakened, chiefly through the restructuring of its institutional capacity, strategic appointments and dismissals of key individuals, and a pervasive culture of fear and bullying. It is a clear example of state capture.”

In 2022, the UK government banned Bain & Company from doing business with it for three years, owing to its part in state capture in South Africa between 2015 and 2018. 

“The damage inflicted on Sars alone, as highlighted by the 2018 Nugent Commission, is estimated to exceed R100 billion. Bain’s role in facilitating state capture has been a significant factor in South Africa’s greylisting by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), with ongoing repercussions for the country’s economy and global reputation,” Public Interest SA chairperson, Tebogo Khaas, said in a statement.

The organisation said that no amount of whitewashing by Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) or Bain’s claims of "restorative initiatives" could erase the firm’s culpability in state capture.

“It is unconscionable that whistleblower Athol Williams remains in exile, fearing for his life, while Bain and its associates have yet to face any real accountability for their heinous actions against the South African people,” Khaas said.Public Interest SA further said that the Energy Council’s justification that Bain offered pro bono services as the only firm willing to commit on such terms underscored the precariousness of this arrangement.

 This is not an act of altruism, Public Interest SA said, but a calculated move by a multinational attempting to rehabilitate its image at the expense of South Africans who continue to suffer the pernicious effects of corruption.

"Energy Council CEO James Mackay’s assurance that Bain has undergone “due diligence” and implemented “reforms” is both tone-deaf and misguided. The argument that Bain has been readmitted to BLSA or had its UK ban lifted does little to absolve the firm of its historical and systemic misconduct. This appointment can only be described as a slap in the face to millions of South Africans demanding accountability and ethical governance," Khaas said.

Khaas warned that Energy Council’s partnership with Bain undermined public trust and tarnished the legitimacy of its efforts.

“We call on James Mackay and the Energy Council’s board to urgently reconsider this ill-timed and inappropriate decision. South Africans deserve better than to have their future energy reforms tainted by a firm synonymous with state capture,” he said.