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Cape Town – Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Mmusi Maimane will write to the Serious Fraud Office in London to request an investigation into McKinsey’s dealings in terms of the UK’s Bribery Act.
McKinsey, which Eskom was instructed to take legal action against, is headquartered in London.
“Earlier this week, the DA laid criminal charges of fraud, racketeering and collusion in terms of Section 21 of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act against McKinsey,” Maimane said in a statement on Friday.
“We believe there are other avenues that ought to be pursued in addition to these charges,” he said, explaining the rationale for writing to the fraud unit in London.
“The recent revelations that private sector companies, such as KPMG and McKinsey, allegedly aided Gupta-aligned companies to profit from government contracts drove home the uncomfortable reality that our country has truly been captured in its entirety – and our young democracy is under siege,” said Maimane.
“In addition to KPMG, international consultancy firm McKinsey appears to have paved the way for Gupta-linked firm Trillian to make hundreds of millions of rands from Eskom as it sub-contracted 30% of its Eskom work to Trillian under the guise of 'supplier development'," he said.
The DA previously said it also plans to approach the US Department of Justice about the work the consultancy did for Eskom, Bloomberg reported on Friday.
Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown ordered Eskom to start taking legal steps against consultancy firms McKinsey and Trillian Capital, as well as suspended acting chief executive officer Matshela Koko and chief financial officer Anoj Singh, who is on special leave, her spokesperson Colin Cruywagen told Bloomberg by phone on Thursday.
Three other senior managers may also face misconduct charges, Business Day reported Friday, without citing its sources.
McKinsey in July said it was reviewing documents related to work done for Eskom.
An interim report by Eskom and G9 Forensic found McKinsey and Trillian, a company linked to the politically connected Gupta family, made R1.6bn in fees and expected to make another R7.8bn, according to investigative journalism groups amaBhungane and Scorpio.
US firm McKinsey said it hasn’t engaged in corruption or paid bribes, in an emailed response to questions.
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