DA wants UK to use bribery Act to probe McKinsey

22 September 2017 - 13:39 By Linda Ensor
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Mmusi Maimane. File photo.
Mmusi Maimane. File photo.
Image: HALDEN KROG

Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Mmusi Maimane is to ask the UK Serious Fraud Office to investigate the allegedly corrupt dealings of global consultancy firm McKinsey in terms of the country's bribery Act.

McKinsey's headquarters are in London.

The request is based on revelations of McKinsey's role in facilitating corruption at Eskom in collaboration with the Gupta-associated company Trillian.

The DA has also laid charges of fraud‚ racketeering and collusion under the Prevention and Combatting of Corrupt Activities Act against McKinsey this week.

Its action against McKinsey is similar to the action it took against public relations firm Bell Pottinger which the DA reported to the UK public relations industry body because of its work for the Guptas and its racially divisive campaign against "white monopoly capital". The firm was expelled from the body and has been ditched by a number of clients.

"The DA will not back down in our pursuit of full accountability in these matters‚" DA leader Mmusi Maimane said on Friday. "As was evident in the Bell Pottinger case‚ those in the private sector who are caught in dodgy dealings with the powerful and the corrupt will be brought to book and face full accountability."

With regard to accounting firm KPMG‚ which has also conceded having acted improperly in its work for Gupta-owned companies‚ Maimane said he would write to South African Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago asking him to confirm whether senior management or other employees at the firm reported any suspicious transactions to the Financial Intelligence Centre as they are obliged to do.

He also wants KPMG to give a public explanation of its report into the so-called "rogue unit" at the South African Revenue Service (SARS). It must clarify how the report came about‚ why the firm failed its own internal quality controls and whether anyone at SARS interfered in the process.

Maimane also wants KPMG to open its books and make public all is its dealings with those involved in state capture‚ including all Gupta-aligned companies and any government entities; to ensure that all individuals implicated in any "underhand" work done for Gupta-aligned interests is removed from the firm; and to make public any bonuses or severance packages paid to senior executives who left because of the scandal.


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