Democracy & Social Justice

The link between corruption and lived experience is nowhere more obvious than the erosion of passenger train services in South Africa. Prasa’s service has declined so dramatically over the past decade that the majority of working-class South Africans who once relied on the affordable service have had to turn to more expensive modes of public transport.

Where is the Transnet loot and why hasn’t it been recovered? Given the government’s recently announced austerity measures targeting social spending, this question demands an urgent answer.

Bain & Company is one of several powerful multinational corporations at the centre of corruption and State Capture in South Africa. Bain enabled the wrecking of the South African Revenue Service, contributing to economic hardship for all South Africans. Placing profit over principle, Bain remains unaccountable and continues to dodge responsibility for serious economic crimes.

Mozambique has been battered by devastating cyclones and an armed insurgency. The backdrop to this is a state battling State Capture. This involves a coterie of corrupt politicians. However, at the centre of one of Africa’s biggest corruption scandals is a Swiss banking behemoth – Credit Suisse.

It has often appeared that the desire of the regulatory board for auditors to protect its members overshadows its responsibility to inform the public about dodgy auditors.

The Big Four auditing firms - Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC - played a systemic role in economic crimes and State Capture. The evidence suggests that these firms have prioritised profit over professional duties and the law. Accountability and reform of the industry is thus essential.

The ‘Big Four’ audit firms – Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC – all play a systemic role in economic crimes and State Capture. The evidence suggests that these firms have prioritised profit over professional duties and the law. Accountability and reform of the industry are thus essential. In July, Open Secrets released the latest Corporations and Economic Crime Report (CECR). Volume 2 — The Auditors — draws on information from Open Secrets’ investigations and publicly available information to illustrate the crisis faced by the auditing industry and how this impacts the public. Last week’s instalment in the Unaccountable series examined the role of Deloitte in audit failure and dodgy consulting contracts at Steinhoff, Tongaat-Hulett and Eskom. This week, we focus on EY.