If the people who held leadership positions at companies implicated in corruption and other wrongdoing are removed from the business, new leaders brought in and the company is welcomed back to a business body it was once suspended from, does that mean the company is now squeaky clean?
Former Bain & Company whistle-blower Athol Williams (for subscribers) doesn’t think so and has taken aim at Business Leadership South Africa’s (BLSA) CEO Busi Mavuso after she said Bain & Company would be welcomed back as a member of the BLSA.
Bain & Company have been heavily implicated in the first part of the State Capture report for its dealings with former president Jacob Zuma and former SA Revenue Service (SARS) commissioner Tom Moyane.
Williams writes that when BLSA defends Bain in public and allows for it to be a member it poses a danger in normalising corporate crime and the “unjustifiable sacred place we offer corporations because they bring investment and offer jobs, even when they often erode the moral fabric of our society.”
Bain was suspended by BLSA in September 2018 and re-admitted as a member in April 2021 after it repaid the tax agency R164 million, which included interest, for work it did at SARS. New risk protocols were introduced and a change of leadership, which included the removal of former Bain & Company SA managing partner, Vittorio Massone.
But Williams says those who worked with Massone are still at Bain and the new SA leadership, under the direction of John Senior, was hand-picked by Bain’s top people at its headquarters in Boston, US.
Williams does not believe a change in leadership and some new protocols are enough to absolve a company of its corrupt deeds, while Mavuso, in her defence of Bain’s readmittance, contends that a business cannot be sent to jail and only individuals can be prosecuted for any crimes committed.
But in an about-turn on Tuesday, Bain voluntarily quit its membership of the business lobby group and said in a statement that its membership of BLSA should not “distract from the important work BLSA does on behalf of the business community for the good of South Africa”.
In the statement, Bain said it was an “unwitting participant” in the damage inflicted on SARS and acknowledged the findings of part one of the State Capture report but reiterated that it did not “wilfully or knowingly support state capture at SARS or elsewhere”.
Bain adds that the findings of the State Capture report mischaracterises its dealings with SARS and the former president.
Fikile-Ntsikelelo Moya says just because a person or company is named in the State Capture report, it does not mean we can automatically assume guilt and the law must take its course against those who truly have done wrong.
He writes that there is a tendency for South Africans to latch onto the headlines themselves and ignore what the news means, causing the facts to be lost amid all the excitement about the release of the report and the naming and shaming of those mentioned.
“Please do not get me wrong. Those who need to be prosecuted should be prosecuted. And if found guilty, they should be sentenced to the harshest punishment allowed by law. The looting of state funds is not a victimless crime,” writes Moya.
Here’s a roundup of interesting opinions, analyses, and editorials:
EDITORIAL: Parliament blaze must be thoroughly investigated – Business Day
ANALYSIS | 10 key themes to look out for in the commercial property market in 2022 – Fin24
Sisulu’s unofficial launch of presidential campaign exposed her shortcomings – The Citizen (for subscribers)
Mandy Wiener | Fasten your seat belt – it’s going to be a wild ride to the ANC conference – News24 (for subscribers)
Aarto and demerit points not the panacea for road carnage and lawlessness — we need effective policing – Daily Maverick
IMF controversy reveals slew of biased policies and a Harvard economist with an axe to grind – Daily Maverick
Western Cape study shows why Omicron wave caused less death – GroundUp
