McKinsey to repay R650m, testify in SA graft probe

McKinsey & Co. will repay R650 million ($44 million) for contracts it had with South African Airways and state logistics company Transnet SOC Ltd., as it seeks to clear its name in the country.

The consultancy firm’s chief risk officer, Jean-Christophe Mieszala, will on Thursday testify at a state graft probe. McKinsey said the contracts were carried out together with Regiments Capital, a company associated with the Gupta family, some of whom have refused to return to South Africa from Dubai to face graft charges.

“The judicial commission has confirmed there is no information that implicates any current personnel of McKinsey in any corruption or impropriety,” the company said in a statement on Wednesday. “The repayment decision was made following the Judicial Commission’s recent introduction of documents and information regarding Regiments previously unavailable to our review.”

McKinsey is one of a number of international companies caught up in South African graft probes mainly targeting firms doing business with state entities. SAP AG and KPMG LLP are two of the companies mentioned.

McKinsey has previously repaid about R1 billion to Eskom Holdings, the state power utility.

“This situation is a source of great regret to McKinsey,” said Kevin Sneader, McKinsey’s global managing partner, in the statement. “Over the past three years, McKinsey has accepted responsibility for the errors of judgment that were made and continues to work hard to make amends.”