Under-siege consulting firm Bain & Co has taken out a full-page advertisement in Business Day to put out fires arising from its complicity in state capture allegations.
Bain SA managing partner Stephen York apologised on behalf of the consultancy for “serious mistakes in the procurement and execution of our work at Sars [SA Revenue Service]”.
“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,” York said in the paid for advert.
“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 of this critical institution.”
The apology comes a few days after Treasury acting director-general Ismail Momoniat threatened that SA was contemplating taking a similar route the UK government took when it banned the US-based company from tendering for state jobs for a period of three years.
This is the second time the firm has apologised to South Africans after returning all fees it earned from Sars for the period in question.
“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.
The Zondo inquiry found that Bain, along with former Sars commissioner Tom Moyane and former president Jacob Zuma, were central in hollowing out the Sars.
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