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Bain apologises amid calls for SA ban

Stephen York, managing partner of Bain South Africa, says they are prepared to have tough conversations.
Stephen York, managing partner of Bain South Africa, says they are prepared to have tough conversations.
Image: Dorothy Kgosi

Bain South Africa's managing partner Stephen York has penned a letter appealing for “constructive dialogue”, saying recent calls for the consulting firm to be banned from SA have made clear the need to communicate directly with South Africans. 

The company took out a full-page paid advert in Business Day on Friday to apologise after National Treasury acting director-general Ismail Momoniat's call for Bain and other companies implicated in state capture to be banned from operating in SA. 

The Zondo commission of inquiry into state capture had found Bain played a central role in corruption at Sars along with former president Jacob Zuma and former Sars commissioner Tom Moyane.

Momoniat's call to ban the consulting firm came after the UK banned it from government contracts for three years because of its involvement in corruption at the SA Revenue Service (Sars). 

Our work was used by others to further their agenda of state capture at Sars
Stephen York, Bain SA managing partner 

“We apologise to you. Bain made serious mistakes in the procurement and execution of our work at Sars, and we kept working even as it became clear that the Sars leadership had a different agenda.

“Our work was used by others to further their agenda of state capture at Sars. Sars was a source of pride for South Africans and we regret playing any role in the damage to this critical institution,” wrote York.

He said all the partnering firms that worked under Bain had done so with the intention to help SA organisations grow, innovate and excel.

York wrote: “Like you, I am South African. I lead Bain’s business in SA, where we employ over 80 people, the overwhelming majority of whom were involved — as junior staff members — in Bain’s work at Sars from 2015-2017.”

The ban of Bain from the UK followed a campaign by Lord Peter Hain, who in January asked the UK government to freeze Bain’s contracts subject to the firm complying with the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).

York said they had apologised in 2018 before the conclusion of the Nugent commission's inquiry into tax administration and governance at Sars. They had also repaid all fees received from Sars.

The Sunday Times reported the Treasury was looking into how to ban Bain legally, with Momoniat saying the money the companies paid back was not enough.

“What they paid is nothing, they must pay for revenue we failed to collect because of their actions and the criminal networks that grew because of the many investigations that were stopped. They stopped measures to disrupt their activities,” said Momoniat.

Responding to this, York said: “Unfortunately, a false narrative has emerged about Bain that goes far beyond our actual failures and paints us as the embodiment of all state capture that occurred during the Zuma administration. This story is speculative and has been provided by people with no first-hand knowledge of the work.” 

He called for constructive dialogue instead.  

Bain said it is prepared to have “tough conversations” and appealed to the government, the business community, and civil society to engage “with us on a way forward”.

“We are ashamed of what happened at Sars, but we would like to get back to the work of helping the SA economy grow.

“We stopped all public sector work in SA and have not done any since. The private sector reacted swiftly, stopping work with us and insisting that we address our shortcomings,” York said, adding that some companies have now resumed work with the firm after reviewing its remedial actions.

TimesLIVE


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