Boston Consulting Group (BCG) is one of the world’s largest consulting firms. Its corporate mission is to “unlock the potential of those who advance the world”. What BGC fails to mention is that this includes its clients who are kleptocrats and dodgy corporations
16 August| This is the repository of documents cited in the 34th profile of the Unaccountable series which focusses on Boston Consulting Group (BCG)
The most cynical corporations seek to rip off the poor. Few have been as effective as Net1 and Cash Payment Services (CPS). While they have rebranded, they have not paid back their illicit profits owed to millions of South Africans
Lawyers and law firms were instrumental in the State Capture project. From prestigious Sandton white shoe firms to crooked small-time attorneys everyone feasted. One attorney who has not been held to account for State Capture crimes is the notorious Daniel Mantsha
Despite glaring evidence available in the public domain, the findings of the Zondo Commission and a fresh criminal investigation in Germany, South African authorities seem uninterested in holding T-Systems to account.
This is the repository of documents cited in the 36th profile of the Unaccountable series which focusses on T systems.
Sello Maema is the prosecutor inside the NPA who led three of the authority’s most questionable cases at that time. Allegations of Maema’s misconduct were documented in Open Secrets’ latest investigative report: Bad Cops, Bad Lawyers.
28 August| This is the repository of documents cited in the 35th profile of the Unaccountable series which focusses on Johan van der Merwe
Sello Maema is the prosecutor inside the NPA who led three of the authority’s most questionable cases at that time. Allegations of Maema’s misconduct were documented in Open Secrets’ latest investigative report: Bad Cops, Bad Lawyers.
2 June 2022 | This is the repository of documents cited in the 34th profile of the Unaccountable series which focusses on Sello Maema
In this series, Open Secrets profiles the prosecutors inside the National Prosecuting Authority who motivated questionable prosecutions and unduly delayed important cases. In this instalment, we focus on Andrew Chauke, the NPA’s head of public prosecutions in Johannesburg.
In this instalment, we focus on Andrew Chauke, the NPA’s head of public prosecutions in Johannesburg.
State capture relies on a vast network of actors, many of whom have evaded accountability for their role in derailing state-owned entities. This network includes lawyers who have disregarded their ethical and professional duties in service of corrupt networks. Refiloe Mokoena, an attorney who served as a board member at several state-owned entities (SOEs) and…
2 June 2022 | This is the repository of documents cited in the 32nd profile of the Unaccountable series which focusses on the misdeeds of attorney Refiloe Mokoena
Unaccountable 00031: The National Postponement Authority on High Profile Corruption by Ra’eesa Pather for Open Secrets 4 April 2021 Questionable decision-making, poor leadership and political interference have collapsed public trust in the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). The current leadership at the authority, lead by Shamila Batohi, has yet to bring about change to address the…
Who are the board members and executives at Prasa who enabled and participated in the looting of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa)? This week we turn to Sfiso Buthelezi, a former deputy minister of Finance and current member of parliament whose six years as Prasa’s first board chairperson saw the parastatal procurement…
This is the repository of documents cited in the 30th profile of the Unaccountable series which focusses on the role of current member of parliament and former board chair of Prasa, Sfiso Buthelezi.
Unaccountable 00029 | Roy Moodley- Mr Prasa? By Lucas Nowicki Who are the shady corporate bosses who derailed Prasa? In this instalment of Unaccountable, we shine a light on Roy Moodley, a politically connected businessman whom employees at the state-owned railway company would call ‘Mr Prasa’, according to testimony at the Zondo Commission. For more…
This profile is on PwC and Nkonki, the auditors that repeatedly gave SAA a clean bill of health while fraud and corruption soared.
26 July 2021 | This is the repository of documents cited in the 28th profile of the Unaccountable series which focusses on the role of PwC and Nkonki as auditors of the national air carrier, SAA.
This profile is on PwC and Nkonki, the auditors that repeatedly gave SAA a clean bill of health while fraud and corruption soared.
This is the repository for all the documents cited in the PRASA-related Unaccountable profiles and 3-part PRASA series with GroundUp. Corruption has a direct impact on the lives of people in South Africa. The link between corruption and lived experience is nowhere more obvious than the erosion of passenger train services in South Africa. The…
Unaccountable 00026: Vossloh- The German railway giant that derailed Prasa By Lucas Nowicki In installment 00024 of Unaccountable we focused on middleman Auswell Mashaba and his shelf company Swifambo Rail Leasing, which was used as a front by Vossloh España to secure a lucrative contract with Prasa that resulted in the SOE spending billions on…
Unaccountable 00025: The Russian Bank that took Mozambique for a ride By Mamello Mosiana The people of Mozambique have been battered in recent times by devastating cyclones and an increasingly virulent armed insurgency in the North of the country. The backdrop is a country battling state capture. This involves a coterie of corrupt politicians, multinational…
19 May 2021 | This is the repository of the sources cited in the 25th instalment of Unaccountable, VTB Capital- The Russian Bank that took Mozambique for a ride.
Unaccountable 00024: Auswell ‘tall trains’ Mashaba: The middleman who derailed Prasa By Lucas Nowicki Who are the shady middlemen who derailed Prasa? We turn our attention to Auswell ‘tall trains’ Mashaba, whose business Swifambo Rail Leasing is one of the locomotives of corruption at Prasa. In last week’s instalment of Unaccountable, we discussed the politicians, board members…
Unaccountable 00023: How Prasa was looted and left for scrap By Lucas Nowicki The link between corruption and lived experience is nowhere more obvious than the erosion of passenger train services in South Africa. Prasa’s service has declined so dramatically over the past decade that the majority of working-class South Africans who once relied on…
Unaccountable 00022: The Chinese Railway Rolling Stock Corporation: China Inc boards the State Capture train By Hlohi Ndlovu Where is the Transnet loot and why hasn’t it been recovered? Given the government’s recently announced austerity measures targeting social spending, this question demands an urgent answer. Why have institutions such as Transnet thus far largely failed…
This is the repository for all the documents cited in the 22nd profile of the Unaccountable series: CRRC- China Inc boards the state capture train Where is the Transnet loot and why hasn’t it been recovered? Given the governments recently announced austerity measures targeting social spending this question demands an urgent answer. Why have institutions…
Unaccountable 00021: Bain and Company- The KGB of Consulting By Zen Mathe Bain & Company is one of several powerful multinational corporations at the centre of corruption and State Capture in South Africa. Bain enabled the wrecking of the South African Revenue Service, contributing to economic hardship for all South Africans. Placing profit over principle,…
Daily Maverick | Sasha Planting | 16 February 2021 | With SA’s Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors (Irba) in a full-blown governance crisis and the Auditing Profession Amendment Bill still wending its way through Parliament, two of the firms involved in SA’s gigantic accounting scandals are attempting to make right for past failings. On Monday,…
This is the repository for all the documents cited in the 21st profile of the Unaccountable series: Bain & Co.- The ‘KGB of consulting’ Bain and Company (Bain) is one of several powerful multinational corporations at the centre of corruption and state capture in South Africa. Bain enabled the wrecking of the South African Revenue…
Mozambique has been battered by devastating cyclones and an armed insurgency. The backdrop to this is a state battling State Capture. This involves a coterie of corrupt politicians. However, at the centre of one of Africa’s biggest corruption scandals is a Swiss banking behemoth – Credit Suisse.
This is the repository for some of the documents cited in Unaccountable 20: Credit Suisse, Unaccountable 25: VTB Capital and Unaccountable 27: EY. These installments of the Unaccountable series focus on the role of private-sector enablers of the secret tuna-bond loans that caused Mozabique’s economy to spiral in 2016. A crisis the country is still…
Unaccountable 00019: IRBA- Soft Touch Regulator in Turmoil By Michael Marchant It has often appeared that the desire of the regulatory board for auditors to protect its members overshadows its responsibility to inform the public about dodgy auditors The “Big Four” audit firms – Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC – are regularly implicated in audit…
The ‘Big Four’ audit firms – Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC – all play a systemic role in economic crimes and state capture. The evidence suggests that these firms have prioritised profit over professional duties and the law. Accountability and reform of the industry is thus essential. In July, Open Secrets released the latest Corporations…
Unaccountabe 00018: KPMG – At the heart of state capture By Mamello Mosiana The Big Four auditing firms – Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC – played a systemic role in economic crimes and State Capture. The evidence suggests that these firms have prioritised profit over professional duties and the law. Accountability and reform of the…
Unaccountable 00017: EY – incompetent, negligent or criminal? By Michael Marchant The ‘Big Four’ audit firms – Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC – all play a systemic role in economic crimes and State Capture. The evidence suggests that these firms have prioritised profit over professional duties and the law. Accountability and reform of the industry…
Below are the documents cited in Unaccountable 00017: EY- Incompetent, Negligent or Just Criminal? This is the second of four Unaccountable profiles that focus on the ‘Big Four’ audit firms- Deloitte, EY, KPMG, PwC. All these firms play a systemic role in economic crimes and state capture. In July, Open Secrets released the report, The…
Below are the documents cited in Unaccountable 00016: Deloot. This is the first of four Unaccountable profiles that focus on the ‘Big Four’ audit firms- Deloitte, EY, KPMG, PwC. All these firms play a systemic role in economic crimes and state capture. In July, Open Secrets released the report, The Corporations and Economic Crime Report…
Unaccountable 00016: Deloot – How Deloitte gets away with it By Michael Marchant The ‘Big Four’ audit firms – Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC – all play a systemic role in economic crimes and State Capture. The evidence suggests that these firms have prioritised profit over professional duties and the law. Accountability and reform of…
Below are the documents cited in Unaccountable 00015: The BAE Systems Corruption Bombshell. This is the final chapter in Open Secrets’ three-part series detailing BAE Systems’ network of middlemen and agents who were paid generously in return for their political connections and influence during South Africa’s 1999 Arms Deal. The Arms Deal was…
Unaccountable 00015: Arms Deal – The BAE Corruption Bombshell By Open Secrets and Shadow World Investigations The Arms Deal was never only about Jacob Zuma and his sweetheart relationship with French arms company Thales. We now have even more proof that it was rotten to the core and demands accountability. It is not often that…
Below are the documents cited in Unaccountable 00014: BAE Systems- (Profit) Before Anything Else. This is the final chapter in Open Secrets’ three-part series detailing BAE Systems’ network of middlemen and agents who were paid generously in return for their political connections and influence during South Africa’s 1999 Arms Deal. This week we turn…
Unaccountable 00014 | BAE Systems – (Profit) Before Anything Else By Meghan Samaai This is an instalment in Open Secrets’ series detailing BAE Systems’ network of middlemen and agents who were paid generously in return for their political connections and influence during South Africa’s 1999 Arms Deal. This week, we turn our focus from the…
Unaccountable 00013 | Fana Hlongwane – Agent of BAE Systems By Meghan Samaai This is the second in a three-part Open Secrets series detailing the lucrative relationship between BAE Systems and its covert international network of middlemen. As we saw in Unaccountable 00012, BAE, like many European arms corporations looking to profit from South Africa’s…
Below are the documents cited in Unaccountable profiles 00012-00013. These profiles are the third and fourth in a series of profiles based on the corporations and middlemen implicated in the multibillion-dollar Arms Deal of the late 1990s. None of these companies or individuals have been held to account. These profiles turn the spotlight onto…
Unaccountable 00012 | John Bredenkamp – Agent of BAE Systems By Meghan Samaai 18 June 2020 This week, Open Secrets continues to profile the corporations and individuals implicated in corruption in the 1999 Arms Deal but yet to be held to account. The European arms corporations that profited from the deal used a similar modus…
Below are the documents cited in Unaccountable 00011: Thales- How to buy a country. This profile is the second in a series of profiles based on the corporations and middlemen implicated in the multibillion-dollar Arms Deal of the late 1990s. None of these companies or individuals have been held to account. This profile is…
Unaccountable 00011: Thales – How to buy a country By Meghan Samaai This week Open Secrets publishes the second in a series of profiles on the corporations and middlemen implicated in the multibillion-dollar Arms Deal of the late 1990s. This week we focus on the company at the heart of Zuma’s Arms Deal corruption scandal…
Below are the documents cited in Unaccountable 00010: Jacob Zuma- Comrade in Arms. This is the tenth profile in the Unaccountable series and the first of a series of profiles on the 1999 Arms Deal and its aftermath. The profile focusses on former president of South Africa and the ANC, Jacob Zuma. This week…
Unaccountable 00010: Jacob Zuma – Comrade in Arms By Meghan Samaai and Hennie van Vuuren 6 May 2020 This week Open Secrets publishes the first of a number of profiles on the corporations and middlemen implicated in the multibillion-dollar Arms Deal of the late 1990s. None of these companies has been held to account. The…
Below are the documents cited in Unaccountable 00009: McKinsey- Profit over Principle. This instalment of the Unaccountable series is the fourth based on Open Secrets and Shadow World Investigations’ investigative report, The Enablers: The bankers, accountants and lawyers that cashed in on state capture. In profile 00009 – Profit over Principle – Open Secrets examines the…
Unaccountable 00009: McKinsey – Profit over Principle By Mamello Mosiana Big consulting firms take no credit and they accept no blame. This philosophy has enabled McKinsey & Company to profit with ease from work with authoritarian regimes, troubled businesses and corrupt state-owned enterprises. In South Africa, their work at Eskom and Transnet on some of…
These are the files for Unaccountable 00008: FNB and Standard Bank- Estina’s Banks. This instalment of the Unaccountable series is the third of five profiles that are based on the Open Secrets and Shadow World Investigations’ investigative report, The Enablers: The bankers, accountants and lawyers that cashed in on state capture. Profile 00008- Estina’s Banks, Open…
Unaccountable 00008: FNB & Standard Bank – Estina’s Banks By Michael Marchant The infamous Estina Vrede Dairy Project was supposed to direct public funds to ‘empower’ indigent Free State farmers and develop local agriculture. Instead, almost all of the money was looted to benefit the Gupta enterprise. This week Open Secrets focuses on two of…
These are the documents cited in Unaccountable 00007: HSBC- The World’s Oldest Cartel. This instalment of the Unaccountable series is the second of five profiles that are based on the Open Secrets and Shadow World Investigations’ investigative report, The Enablers: The bankers, accountants and lawyers that cashed in on state capture. In Profile 00007- The…
Unaccountable 00007: HSBC – The World’s Oldest Cartel By Mamello Mosiana If Transnet was a golden goose for the Gupta family and their associates, then global banking giant HSBC played the role of tending their illicit nest eggs. This week Open Secrets examines the role of a key global enabler in the State Capture network.…
These are the documents cited in Unaccountable 00006: Nedbank and the Bank of Baroda- Banking on State Capture. This instalment of the Unaccountable series is the first of five profiles that are based on the Open Secrets and Shadow World Investigations’ investigative report, The Enablers: The bankers, accountants and lawyers that cashed in on…
Unaccountable 00006: Nedbank and the Bank of Baroda — Banking on State Capture By Michael Marchant Who laundered money for the Gupta acolytes and used the opportunity to cash in on State Capture? A new investigative report, ‘The Enablers’, co-authored by Open Secrets and Shadow World Investigations, details the role of bankers, accountants, consultants and…
This instalment of the unaccountable series focusses on the NCACC’s failure to make the arms industry more transparent and reflective of South Africa’s stated commitment to human rights. Below are the documents cited in this Unaccountable Profile. South Africa’s arms trade regulator has failed in its mandate to monitor the export of weapons to…
Unaccountable 00005: National Conventional Arms Control Committee – handmaiden to human rights abuse? By Caryn Dolley and Zen Mathe South Africa’s arms trade regulator has failed in its mandate to monitor the export of weapons to countries that, among other things, abuse human rights, or wage war against their own citizens. This begs the question,…
Unaccountable 0004: Rheinmetall Denel Munition: Murder and mayhem in Yemen By Zen Mathe & Caryn Dolley Companies with South African links have been allowed to supply Saudi Arabia and its allies with weapons — despite the humanitarian destruction the war in Yemen has wrought. Yemen is at the epicentre of a regionalised civil war. Over…
Unaccountable Case File 00003- Dube Tshidi and the FSCA: Captured Regulator? By Michael Marchant ’Captured Regulator? – Dube Tshidi and the FSCA’ is the third instalment of the Unaccountable profile series. This profile looks at the role of the then chief executive of the Financial Services Board (FSB), Adv. Dube Tshidi and the FSCA in…
Unaccountable 00003: Captured Regulator?- The FSCA and Dube Tshidi By Michael Marchant Open Secrets | Daily Maverick | 3 December 2019 In part two of the Open Secrets Unaccountable series, we profiled the conduct of Liberty Group in the incorrect cancellation of hundreds of pension funds when they still held more than R100 million owed…
Liberty- Profit over Pensioners, is the second installment of the Unaccountable profile series. The profile chronicles, insurance giant, Liberty Group’s role in the callous cancellation of over 6000 pension funds. Below are the documents cited in this profile. More than 16 million South Africans contribute to a pension fund, most of which are run by…
Unaccountable 00002: Liberty- Profit over Pensioners By Michael Marchant More than 16 million South Africans contribute to a pension fund, most of which are run by financial behemoths like Liberty. They do so in the hope of a decent dignified life in retirement, and to ensure their dependants will be paid if they die. While…
Unaccountable 00001: Dame Margaret Hodge MP – a very British apartheid profiteer By Open Secrets Open Secrets | Daily Maverick | 20 November 2019 Margaret Hodge has clothed herself in the claim that she has dedicated her life to fighting racism – that her very ‘being’ was anti-racist, as she said in March 2019. The…
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