Public Interest SA Welcomes Bain & Co’s Exit from South Africa, Warns Against Continued Exploitation from “Service Hub” Base

MEDIA STATEMENT

Johannesburg, South Africa, Tuesday, 29 July 2025 — Public Interest SA notes, with cautious relief, the decision by Bain & Company to discontinue its consultancy business in South Africa. The move comes after sustained public and civil society pressure — including that from Public Interest SA — following incontrovertible findings of its complicity in the systematic hollowing out of the South African Revenue Service (SARS) during the heyday of state capture.

Let us be clear: this exit is not an act of conscience — it is an act of survival. It is not motivated by remorse, but by reputational fatigue and sustained civic resistance. Bain & Co has shown no genuine contrition for the irreparable harm it caused. It has not offered reparations to South Africans who continue to bear the brunt of institutional collapse, and most tragically, it has never extended tangible support to whistleblower Athol Williams, who has endured exile for more than five years after courageously testifying at the Zondo Commission. His life was imperilled because of Bain’s refusal to accept accountability, and for this, Bain remains morally culpable.

"We caution, however, against naivety in interpreting this development. Bain’s plan to retain a South African presence under the guise of a “services hub supporting Bain’s global operations” raises fresh concerns. South Africa must not become a low-cost platform from which Bain coordinates cross-border corruption elsewhere on the African continent. Its operations must be monitored rigorously to ensure that this exit is not a mere tactical withdrawal from public scrutiny in the domestic arena, but a complete severance from the corridors of influence it once so shamelessly corrupted," said Tebogo Khaas, chairperson of Public Interest SA.

"Equally, we decry the continued operation of McKinsey and KPMG — fellow enablers of state capture who continue to profit off the very society they helped to hollow out. Despite Zondo Commission findings implicating these firms in the looting of state institutions, they continue to peddle consultancy services, having reneged on earlier promises of restitution and institutional reform. This speaks volumes about the culture of impunity that still persists in both the private sector and among policymakers who fail to act decisively.

The pain caused by Bain & Co and its ilk is not abstract. It is measured in homes without electricity, communities without basic services, and billions in revenue lost to corruption that could have built a better future for all South Africans. These wounds remain unhealed", added Khaas.

Public Interest SA reiterates that Bain & Co’s closure of its South African consultancy is not the end of its accountability journey. It must be held to full account — legally, morally, and financially. The people of South Africa deserve more than performative exits and evasive public statements. They deserve justice.

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Issued by:

Public Interest SA Communications

media@publicinterest.org.za