SA’s Corruption Watch to lay complaints against McKinsey

INTERNATIONAL business consultancy group McKinsey could be hauled before the US Justice Department on corruption and bribery charges.

Corruption Watch said yesterday it would be laying complaints against the firm.

McKinsey is doing an internal review of the work its South African arm did for Eskom in conjunction with the Gupta-linked financial advisory company Trillian Capital.

Trillian Capital acted as McKinsey’s BEE partner in South Africa‚ although McKinsey has denied that it formally had Trillian working for it.

Trillian Capital, until recently owned by Gupta ally Salim Essa, stands accused of receiving more than R250-million in payments from Eskom for work it ultimately never did.

Essa has sold his 60% stake in Trillian Capital to the firm’s chief executive, Eric Wood.

Eskom admitted last month that it had lied in its defence of payments totalling R1.6-billion to Trillian and McKinsey.

Corruption Watch director David Lewis said its submissions would be handed over to the US authorities before the end of the month.

The submissions would include former public protector Thuli Madonsela’s State of Capture report and one by advocate Geoff Budlender, hired by former Trillian chairman Tokoya Sexwale to, among others, probe claims about Wood’s prior knowledge of ex-finance minister Nhanhla Nene’s dismissal.