Bain & Company exits consulting operations in South Africa

Global consulting giant Bain & Company has announced it is winding down its consulting operations in South Africa, marking a symbolic end to a tumultuous chapter in the country’s state capture saga.

In a statement this week, the firm said, “We can confirm that we are winding down consulting operations in South Africa. In May, we informed our local teams that our Johannesburg office will become a services hub supporting Bain’s global operations, retaining the vast majority of our talented local employees. We remain committed to supporting our global clients with interests in South Africa, as we have done in recent years. All ongoing client commitments will be honoured without disruption.”

The move comes years after Bain was implicated in one of South Africa’s most damaging corruption scandals  - its role in the hollowing out of the South African Revenue Service (Sars). During Jacob Zuma’s presidency, Bain worked closely with Sars commissioner Tom Moyane to implement a restructuring plan that effectively dismantled the tax authority’s investigative units and senior leadership. This, according to both the Nugent and Zondo commissions, was part of a broader effort to weaken state institutions and consolidate political control.

Bain’s actions were found to be not just reckless but complicit. The firm held secretive meetings with Zuma even before securing the SARS contract and was later found to have acted with “grave professional misconduct.” It repaid R199 million to the state but has faced lasting reputational damage. In 2022, the UK government banned Bain from public contracts over its role in state capture.

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