Civil society joins forces calling for McKinsey to be accountable
Future South Africa and the variety of civil society organisations associated with it today hosted a picket outside the offices of McKinsey in South Africa to protest the way in which the global company conducted itself in relation to its empowerment partner Trillian Capital and their business deals with Eskom.
McKinsey stands accused of criminal complicity in the capture of the South African state by powerful business interests colluding with prominent political leaders and public sector officials. These allegations – which relate principally to the relationship between McKinsey, Eskom and Trillian – are supported by compelling evidence.
Aside from the allegedly corrupt manner in which McKinsey secured its engagement with Eskom, the South African public, including the business community, is outraged at the unconscionable fee of R1.6 billion that McKinsey has levied for a six-month contract. Approximately R600m of this fee was paid to Trillian despite the fact that they performed little, or no, billable work on the project. Indeed Trillian’s sole contribution has, it appears, been confined to using its political connections to secure the contract for McKinsey.
In the face of this evidence, long in the public domain, we are appalled at the inaction of our criminal justice authorities, in particular the Hawks and the National Prosecuting Authority. The evidence clearly points to contraventions of the Prevention and Combatting of Corrupt Activities Act. We demand that they mount a formal investigation of the conduct of McKinsey, Trillian and Eskom.
We strongly support Corruption Watch’s planned submission to the United States criminal justice authorities requesting that they conduct an investigation into apparent contraventions by McKinsey of the provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.