SAfm | Mediated Conversation with Stephen Grootes: Deloitte Settlement
Mediated Conversation: auditing firm Deloitte had reached a settlement with the company Tongaat Hulette – over the massive auditing scandal at Tongaat.
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the enablers
Co-authored by Open Secrets and Shadow World Investigations, The Enablers explores the largely overlooked yet extensive evidence of the role of the private sector “enablers” in state capture.
This investigative report shows that the systems that enable grand corruption and state capture are global in nature, and that private sector elites are central to the problem. Removing corrupt politicians from office and holding them to account is only the first difficult step. Directors of complicit corporations in South Africa and abroad must be held to account, too. Further, to guard against state capture, it is imperative that we change the rules of a secretive international financial system in which private actors profit immensely from enabling corruption. This investigative report is intended to provide the evidence and analysis to assist Justice Zondo and the Commission with this pressing task in 2020.
*Note: The Enablers report was updated in April 2020. The edition includes revisions concerning the conduct of McKinsey and Company based on correspondence between Open Secrets and McKinsey. This correspondence is available to read below and in the final pages of the report.
The Enablers
The Bankers, Lawyers and Accountants that Cashed in on State Capture
correspondence with mckinsey & company
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fact sheets
media
President’s response to Zondo Commission’s State Capture report must be followed by decisive action
The Civil Society Working Group on State Capture’s media statement on the president’s response to the State Capture Report.
Unaccountable 00034: Sello Maema
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.
Unaccountable 00034: Sello Maema
2 June 2022 | This is the repository of documents cited in the 34th profile of the Unaccountable series which focusses on Sello Maema
Kaya| Zondo let the State Capture bankers off the hook
Point of View with Phemelo Motene How did the State Capture network move billions of rand stolen from the South African people across the globe? The Zondo Commission report provides some of the details of the network of banks who profited from this — but fails to provide any remedy of how to prevent a…
Unaccountable 00033: Andrew Chauke
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.
Newzroom Afrika| Zondo commission slated for findings on banks
Investigators at Open Secrets have warned that the Zondo Inquiry’s alleged failure to point out the banking industry and other middlemen in state capture, may undo future work against corruption. Open Secrets and Shadow World Investigations jointly submitted an exhaustive report to the commission on the matter, in 2020. They now contend that the inquiry…
Radio 786| State Capture and Consequences
We’ve had just about a week to digest the latest instalment of the State Capture report. President Cyril Ramaphosa’s failure to address corruption at various levels of government, and within the governing party has been widely criticised. Several parastatals have also been eaten away by dubious deals and corrupt politicians, leaving South Africans with an…
Zondo let the State Capture bankers off the hook
How did the State Capture network move billions of rand stolen from the South African people across the globe? The Zondo Commission report provides some of the details of the network of banks who profited from this — but fails to provide any remedy of how to prevent a repetition of these crimes.
Unaccountable 00032: Refiloe Mokoena
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 as an acting judge, is one such lawyer implicated in state capture
Civil Society Working Group on State Capture: Statement on Part 1 of the Zondo Commission’s Report
Monday 24 January 2022 || Civil Society Working Group on State Capture: Statement – Response to the Zondo Commission’s Report We urge the commission not to shy away from making robust recommendations that can act as catalyst for wholesale state reform and will help to ensure that powerful corporations and individuals that have enabled state…
Inside the reign of Bain
Inside the reign of Bain Financial Mail | Zen Mathe, Investigator at Open Secrets | 13 JANUARY 2022 The consulting firm was present for every step of the dismantling of Sars, from conception, to collusion, to capture. The first report from the Zondo commission into state capture, released on January 4, shines a light on…
Findings against The New Age in the State Capture report
Findings against The New Age in the State Capture report The Clement Manyathela Show on 702 | Interview with Ra’eesa Pather, Investigator at Open Secrets | 12 January 2022 Clement speaks to Open Secrets’ investigator, Ra’eesa Pather, as well as Pieter Pretorius from Eskom and former GCIS DG Themba Maseko, as resistors of state capture…
Zondo: South African Airways, PwC can drag heels no longer
Open Secrets’ Michael Marchant reacts to the first part of the State Capture report, and the findings against PwC and Nkonki’s work at SAA.
Mediated Conversation: Reflection on the State Capture Report
Mediated Conversation: Reflection on the State Capture Report SAfm Sunrise | Guests include: Pauli van Wyk, Daily Maverick; Hennie van Vuuren, Open Secrets; and Mzwandile Mbeje, SABC News | 10 January 2022 Stephen Grootes of SAfm Sunrise speaks with Pauli van Wyk (Journalist at Daily Maverick); Hennie van Vuuren (Executive Director of Open Secrets), and…
Zondo: South African Airways, PwC can drag heels no longer
Zondo: South African Airways, PwC can drag heels no longer The Africa Report | David Whitehouse| 10 January 2022 Publication of the first part of the Zondo Report on state capture has finally prompted South African Airways (SAA) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to start facing reality. The first part of the report by Chief Justice Raymond…
Thought Leadership: State Capture Report under the spotlight
Thought Leadership: State Capture Report under the spotlight Power 98.7 | In conversation with Mamello Mosiana, Head of Campaigns at Open Secrets | 9 January 2022 Stand-in host Nhlanhla Sehume is in conversation with the head of campaigns, Mamello Mosiana, at non-governmental organisation Open Secrets – which is vocal on accountability for private sector economic…
Pros and Cons of Deferred Prosecution Agreements in the State Capture Report
Pros and cons of Deferred Prosecution Agreements recommended in the State Capture Report Newzroom Afrika | In conversation with Tabitha Paine, Senior Attorney at Open Secrets | 8 January 2022 The state capture commission’s first report was released this week. It includes a recommendation to use deferred prosecution agreements for companies implicated in State Capture.…
Analysing the State Capture Report: Objections to proposed deferred prosecution agreements
Analysing the State Capture Report: Objections to proposed deferred prosecution agreements Radio 786 | In conversation with Michael Marchant, Head of Research at Open Secrets | 7 January 2022 Red flags have been raised about the State Capture Commission’s recommendation that government introduce laws to allow for deferred prosecutions of corporations accused of crimes like…
Discussion | State Capture Report Hits and Misses
Discussion | State Capture report hits and misses eNCA | In conversation with Michael Marchant, Head of Investigations at Open Secrets | 7 January 2022 Michael Marchant from Open Secrets spoke to eNCA’s Annika Larsen.
Discussion on State Capture Commission Report and insights on the findings: Ra’eesa Pather
Discussion on State Capture Commission Report and insights on the findings: Ra’eesa Pather, Investigator at Open Secrets SABC News | In conversation with Ra’eesa Pather, Investigator at Open Secrets | 7 January 2022 Civil society organization Open Secrets last night hosted a virtual conversation to discuss the State Capture Commission report and its insights on…
The pros and cons of deferred prosecution agreements: Is it a case of justice deferred is justice denied?
The pros and cons of deferred prosecution agreements: Is it a case of justice deferred is justice denied? Daily Maverick| Tabitha Paine and Ra’eesa Pather | 6 January 2022 The first of three reports by the Zondo Commission has proposed using deferred prosecution agreements as a tool to hold companies accountable for wrongdoing in State Capture.…
Ramaphosa’s primary responsibility is to the country, not his political party: Open Secrets
Ramaphosa’s primary responsibility is to the country, not his political party: Open Secrets SAfm: Update at Noon | In conversation with Hennie van Vuuren, Executive Director at Open Secrets | 5 Januray 2022 The Democratic Alliance has called on law enforcement agencies to immediately act following the release of the first of the three-part State…
Business with Khaya Sithole: Reflections on the State Capture Report – Part 1
Business with Khaya Sithole: Reflections on the State Capture Report – Part 1 Power 98.7 | In conversation with Michael Marchant, Head of Research at Open Secrets | 5 January 2022 Reflections on the State Capture Report with Michael Marchant, Head of Research at Open Secrets.
Reflections on the State Capture Report – Part 1
Power Business with Khaya Sithole: Reflections on the State Capture Report – Part 1 5 January 2022 Power Business with Khaya Sithole Khaya Sithole reflects on Part 1 of the State Capture Report with Steven Powell from ENS, Pauli van Wyk from the Daily Maverick and Open Secrets’ Head of Investigations, Michael Marchant.
The Morning Review with Lester Kiewit: Zondo State Capture Report
5 January 2022 Lester Kiewit talks to Open Secrets’ Ra’eesa Pather
Examining the NPA’s delay in prosecuting high-profile cases: Hennie van Vuuren, Executive Director of Open Secrets
Examining the NPA’s delay in prosecuting high-profile cases SABC Morning Live | In conversation with Hennie Van Vuuren, Executive Director of Open Secrets | 7 December 2021 National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) head Advocate Shamila Batohi says the NPA is not in a crisis and there is no widespread sabotage of the Investigative Directorate (ID) or…
SIU and Transnet a step closer in clawing back R4,2billion from locomotive company
Cape Talk | 8 September 2021 Transnet and the Special Investigating Unit were on Tuesday granted a preservation order to freeze R4.2billion sitting in bank accounts linked to Chinese company, CRRC E-Loco Supply (CRRC). They supplied Transnet with locomotives between 2011 and 2014. Michael Marchant of Open Secrets speaks to Refilwe Moloto about the significance of the move.
The Watchdog
SABC News | 7 September 2021 Open Secret’s investigator Michael Marchant speaks to Vuyo Mvoko about corruption and the private sector.
Unaccountable Profile Series Special: The Auditors
Unaccountable Special: The Auditors 16 August 2021 | Mamello Mosiana 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 are…
Unaccountable 00028: PwC and Nkonki- The auditors who clipped SAA’s wings
This profile is on PwC and Nkonki, the auditors that repeatedly gave SAA a clean bill of health while fraud and corruption soared.
Unaccountable 00028 Case File: PwC and Nkonki
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.
Former Transnet Board member and Gupta family associate, Iqbal Sharma, has been denied bail
9 June 2021 | SAFM SUNRISE Guest: Makgala Masiteng – SABC Reporter Guest: Hennie Van Vuuren – Director Of Open Secrets
OpenSecrets on how it unravelled for McKinsey’s Transnet deal
Cape Talk | 6 June 2021 Mamello Mosiana – Head of communications and collaboration at Open Secrets speaks to Refilwe Moloto about consultancy firm McKinsey that made millions off their questionable deal with Transnet and Eskom. They have now undertaken to pay back R870million, that they received from Transnet since their contract started in 2005.
Unaccountable 00021: Bain and Company- The KGB of Consulting
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,…
Big audit firms make amends – but is it enough?
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,…
Land of glorious impunity – and how to ensure constitutional accountability for public resources
Mark Heywood | Daily Maverick | 2 February 2021 The latest scandal concerning the Gauteng Education Department’s R431-million expenditure on ‘deep-cleaning and decontaminating’ schools is symptomatic of a deeper problem: we live in a land of hopeless impunity for maladministration and corruption. It was the year Covid-19 upended our lives. But 2020 was also characterised by…
Audit Reform Act: Almost a reality — and almost appropriate
Daily Maverick | Ruan Jooste | 25 January 2021 | The Big Four auditing firms – Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC – played a systemic role in financial crimes across the globe and evidence suggests that these firms have prioritised profit over professional duties and the law. Accountability reforms are around the corner, but will…
State capture: Time for corporates to face the music
Business Live| Natasha Marrian|14 January 2021 | Civil society bodies push for corporations implicated in state capture to be more thoroughly grilled by Zondo. Are private corporations being treated with kid gloves by the commission of inquiry into state capture? Sections of civil society say the impression is being created that the commission, chaired by…
McKinsey and other State Capture enablers: Paying back fees is not enough
Daily Maverick | Michael Marchant |15 December 2020 | The Zondo Commission has a vital role to play in advancing the public’s understanding of private corporations’ role in State Capture. It is the commission’s duty and well within its powers to compel banking executives, lawyers, consultants and auditors to appear before it and answer questions…
Urgent call to hold corporations accountable for state capture
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BizNews webinar with Tim Modise: Do ethics still exist in the public sector?
8 October 2020 | Biz News | In this BizNews noon webinar (Thursday 8 October), veteran broadcaster Tim Modise is joined by Public Service Commissioner Michael Seloane and Mamello Mosiana of Open Secrets to discuss efforts to promote professional ethics in the face of collusive networks of corruption within the public sector.
Dirty Banks: Oops, they’ve done it again!
1 October 2020 | Daily Maverick | Mamello Mosiana and Michael Marchant | Banks are an essential cog in a global money-laundering architecture that enables the corrupt and criminal to disguise and hide the proceeds of their crimes. New revelations from the US reveal the depths of the problem of banks laundering money and the…
Don’t forget about the private sector’s role in ‘state capture’
Breakfast with Refilwe Moloto | 17 September 2020 | Let’s not forget that state capture is so much bigger and Zuma and that this corruption doesn’t exist in a vacuum – the private sector has been there every step of the way. Michael Marchant from Open Secrets in conversation with Refilwe.
Unaccountabe 00018: KPMG – At the heart of state capture
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…
The Cooking of the books: Economic Crimes and the Enabling Role of the Auditor
SA FM | Viewpoint | 8 July 2020 | The Auditor General recently released a report and it tells of gross financial mismanagement in the public sector. Now the public sector is bound to attract attention because it runs on taxpayer’s money. But this doesn’t necessarily mean that the same unscrupulous way don’t exist in…
The Corporations and Economic Crime Report with Mamello Mosiana, Researcher at Open Secrets
Kaya FM | Kaya Bizz | 6 July 2020 | Lack of independence, poor accountability and a culture of silence are some of the issues plaguing the auditing profession globally. A new report by non-profit, Open Secrets, shows how cracks in the system have caused a credibility crisis in the industry and why this is…
How the auditors keep dodging the fraud bullet
Ciaran Ryan | Moneyweb | 3 July 2020 | A new report by Open Secrets puts them back in the crosshairs. Of the roughly 1 000 people attending the virtual release of the latest Open Secrets report titled The Auditors, a good number were likely from the accounting profession. They must have been squirming in…
Is Auditing A Crisis In SA – What Are The Experts Saying?
Radio 786 | 3 July 2020 | South Africa’s top four auditing companies have been labelled as a cartel. This comes as all four of the firms have been exposed and implicated in audit failure and corrupt dealing. In a special report by Open Secrets titled ‘Corporations and Economic Crime Report’ – it details how…
Zondo Commission responds to civil society concerns: Hearings to resume on June 29
Zukiswa Pikoli | Maverick Citizen | 19 June 2020 | “In South Africa, the struggle against State Capture and corruption remains part of the struggle for human rights and social justice – we will work hard to ensure that institutions like the Zondo Commission are effective,” insists the Civil Society Working Group on State Capture.…
Unaccountable 00009: McKinsey – Profit over Principle
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…
Unaccountable 00008: FNB & Standard Bank – Estina’s Banks
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…
Unaccountable 00007: HSBC – The World’s Oldest Cartel
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.…
Explainer: The Enablers of State Capture in the cases of Transnet, Eskom and Estina
‘The Enablers: The Bankers, Accountants and Lawyers who Facilitated State Capture’ is an investigative report published by Open Secrets and Shadow World Investigations in February 2020. The report focuses on the role of banks, accounting firms, consultants and lawyers in facilitating criminal conduct that formed part of the state capture enterprise. This investigative report shows…
Tonight with Lester Podcast: Report The Enablers of State Capture
Cape Talk | 20 February 2020 | Listening to the testimony of bankers before the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into allegations of state capture, you might believe they were unwitting victims of the Guptas and acted quickly and virtuously to throttle their corrupt ways by closing their bank accounts in 2016. It turns out they…
Unaccountable 00006: Nedbank and the Bank of Baroda — Banking on State Capture
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…
Calls mount for banks and the private sector to appear before the #StateCaptureInquiry
Newzroom Afrika | 12 February 2020 | Newzroom Afrika speaks to Open Secrets’ researcher Mamello Mosiana on Open Secrets and Shadow World Investigations new report, The Enablers: the bankers laws and accountants that cashed in on state capture.
The bankers, lawyers and liars who enabled state capture
Ciaran Ryan | Moneyweb | 10 February 2020 | Listening to the testimony of bankers before the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into allegations of state capture, you might believe they were unwitting victims of the Guptas and acted quickly and virtuously to throttle their corrupt ways by closing their bank accounts in 2016. It turns…
‘Bankers, auditors also need to account for their role in state capture’
Jacob Rooi | Rapport/City Press | 10 February 2020 | It’s not only Jacob Zuma who needs to account for his alleged role in state capture, but also the bankers and auditors who made the shenanigans possible. This is according to Andrew Feinstein and Hennie van Vuuren, whose organisations Open Secrets and Shadow World Investigation…
Dié banke, ouditeurs en konsultante het lekker geskep toe dit staatskaping-pap reën
Yolandi Groenewald | Vrye Weekblad | 7 February 2020 | Verskeie vooraanstaande ondernemings het baie om te verduidelik oor hoe hulle staatskaping aangehelp het, blyk uit ’n verslag wat vandeesweek bekendgestel is. YOLANDI GROENEWALD was by die bekendstelling daarvan TERWYL staatskaping in die middel van die vorige dekade op sy ergste gewoed het, het ’n…
South African banks must answer to Zondo, says report
Jessica Bezuidenhout | Daily Maverick | 7 February 2020 | It’s the worst-kept secret and the most ill-explored story of State Capture: The role played by South African banks. Now, for the first time, a comprehensive report has been handed to the State Capture Commission calling for some banks whose fingerprints are all over tainted…
Why Zondo must summon banks, lawyers and consultants to answer for enabling state capture
Why Zondo must shift focus to the private sector if at least some of the billions stolen in state capture are to be recovered, and if transgressors are to be caught and punished Business Live | 6 February 2020 | By: Open Secrets and Shadow World Investigations In many ways, the Estina dairy farm near…
The Enablers Trailer
Co-authored by Open Secrets and Shadow World Investigations, The Enablers investigative report, explores the largely overlooked yet extensive evidence of the role of the private sector “enablers” in state capture. The Enablers focuses on the role of banks, accounting firms, consultants and lawyers in facilitating criminal conduct that formed part of the state capture enterprise.…
‘They are stealing our future’ – How state capture affects its faceless victims
Azarrah Karim | 12 October 2019 | While the state capture commission of inquiry delves deeper and deeper into the web of capture, sourcing the culprits between factional battles, those who were most affected by the crimes believe they are being sidelined. The Civil Society Working Group on State Capture held a people’s hearing at the…
Greasing the Wheels of State Capture: Corporations, Secrecy & Profit
Perspectives- Robbin’ the Hood | 25 August 2019 | Mamello Mosiana and Michael Marchant | Any analysis of state capture is incomplete if it fails to grapple with the network of private actors that facilitates unethical, corrupt and other criminal economic activity. A narrow focus on the structural and institutional weaknesses in the ruling African…
Civil society calls on Judge Zondo- No special treatment for bullies!
Civil Society Working Group on State Capture Media Statement 23 July 2019 Civil society calls on Judge Zondo- No special treatment for bullies! Member organisations of the Civil Society Working Group on State Capture call on the Zondo Commission to more robustly uphold the principle of equality before the law. It would be in the…
Corporate looters need our ire as much as state pilferers
Like many South Africans, I hear a lot about the growing “lawlessness” in SA. The strongest proponents are often people who have emigrated. It is mentioned in many contexts, but it is increasingly used at home and abroad to criticise corruption in government. Isn’t it sad, the story generally goes, that resources are lost and…
