JOHANNESBURG – Disgraced consulting firm Bain & Company has vehemently denied that it wilfully sabotaged the South African Revenue Services (Sars) for its own narrow selfish interest.
The final report into the near demise of Sars under the leadership of fired commissioner Tom Moyane has found that the firm was illegally awarded the contract to draft the ill-fated restructuring plan for the revenue services which left the fiscus with a multibillon rand hole.
Bain in a statement said it accepted it had become an unwitting participant in a process that inflicted serious damage on Sars.
“We understand the justifiable anger felt by South Africans and are deeply sorry for what has happened to SARS and for our involvement,” the company said. “Bain does not, however, accept that its representatives knowingly participated in an effort to damage Sars. Bain made many mistakes in relation to Sars, but the firm had no motive, monetary or otherwise, to damage Sars, and did not set out to do so.”
Judge Robert Nugent who chaired the inquiry into tax administration was scathing into the conduct of Bain over the work it did for Sars. He said in the report released on Friday that Moyane’s interest was to take control of Sars, while Bain was only interested in making money at the expense of the revenue service.
“We think that what occurred can be fairly described as a premeditated offensive against Sars, strategised by the local office of Bain & Company Inc, located in Boston, for Mr Moyane to seize Sars, each in pursuit of their own interests that were symbiotic, but not altogether the same,” Nugent said.