Bain considers its next move after government ban

• Firm says it still has no evidence of manipulation in ‘process run by Sars’

Bain & Company, the global management consultancy implicated in state capture in SA, says it is weighing its options on the government’s decision to ban it from tendering for public sector contracts for the next 10 years. The Treasury said its decision was based on the firm engaging in “corrupt and fraudulent practices in competing for the Sars [SA Revenue Service] contract.” Bain has maintained its innocence in the hollowing out of Sars under former commissioner Tom Moyane, saying it disagrees with the Treasury’s sanction.

Bain & Company, the global management consultancy implicated in state capture in SA, says it is weighing its options on the government’s decision to ban it from tendering for public sector contracts for the next 10 years.

The Treasury said its decision was based on the firm engaging in “corrupt and fraudulent practices in competing for the Sars [SA Revenue Service] contract.”

The firm has been restricted from public sector contracts after the Zondo commission found it, former Sars commissioner Tom Moyane and former president Jacob Zuma were central to attempts to destroy the tax collection agency.

Bain has maintained its innocence in the hollowing out of Sars under Moyane, saying it disagrees with the Treasury’s sanction because it has “found no evidence, nor has any been produced, that Bain manipulated the procurement process in any way to exclude other bidders or specifically advantage Bain”.

“This process was wholly run by Sars,” it said in response questions by Business Day.

This is contrary to the findings of the state capture commission of inquiry, which found that Bain benefited from questionable dealings with Sars and Moyane, leading to failures at the tax collection agency.

The commission recommended that all state contracts with Bain be re-examined for compliance. The report found that Zuma and Moyane worked with Bain to restructure Sars and other state-owned entities (SOEs) and to “restructure entire sectors of the SA economy”.

More than 120 other companies and individuals have been barred from doing business with the government and SOEs due to their fraudulent activities.

Leading up to the ban, Bain said it engaged with the Treasury and Sars for “further dialogue” on the matter, but the engagements came to naught. “Despite this outreach, we were given no notice of or opportunity to respond to the restriction before its apparent implementation.”

The Treasury had not responded to queries by the time of publication.

To atone for its involvement in the erosion of Sars, Bain said it repaid all fees plus interest received for its engagement with Sars. It said it had not pursued any public sector contracts since 2019 and had no plans to do so.

The sanction follows similar action by the UK government after a campaign by Lord Peter Hain, and whistleblower and former Bain employee Athol Williams.

Williams, who is in selfimposed exile in the UK after fearing for his life in SA, said the ban is a step by the government in fighting state capture, but more could be done to protect future whistleblowers.

“More can be done in this fight against state capture and [I] continue to co-operate with authorities in multiple jurisdictions to ensure that the full truth becomes known,” he said.

Helen Suzman Foundation’s director Nicole Fritz said “real sanction and redress will need to involve prosecution of unlawful conduct and the payment of damages in some way proportional to the magnitude of harm caused by Bain’s actions”.