Freeze out grubby firms

We all know the identities of the individuals aiding in the raping and pillaging of our country. Their names have been widely reported, their actions are self-explanatory. They would have been prosecuted some time ago were it not for the fact that among their number they count those responsible for prosecuting them.

There is little we ordinary South Africans can do about that. But when McKinsey and KPMG — so-called reputable international organisations — stick their noses in the trough with the looters there is something we can do. We can stop doing business with them.

We have of course been dished up predictably stilted and parsed denials. But KPMG does not deny auditing the R30m cost of the “event of the millennium” as an entirely tax-deductible business expense. That is enough for me. McKinsey denied its relationship with Trillian but does not deny instructing Eskom to pay its “subcontractor” Trillian 30% of its fee. Nor does it deny knowing who it was dealing with. That is enough for me.

How far and wide must the stench rise before we may expect corrective action, or God forbid, the kind of sincere apology just issued by Bell Pottinger? Spare a thought for the good people employed at these organisations who had nothing to do with this scandalous behaviour. Their jobs become ever more tenuous with every passing day of silence.

G Malan

Parkhurst