Controversial Bain & Company shuts up shop in SA
The mega consultancy firm suffered huge reputational damage when it was embroiled in a corruption scandal involving former President, Jacob Zuma.
The Nugent Commission in 2018 looked at how SARS was restructure according to a BAIN plan to become a shadow of its former self.
The Zondo Commission of Inquiry found that Bain colluded with Zuma and a former SARS commissioner, Tom Moyane, to seize SARS and weaken it deliberately.
The commission said it was one of the clearest cases of state capture.
British politician, former UK Cabinet Minister, Lord Peter Hain, who has ties to SA and has been vocal about Bain and Company.
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Much of the anger can be traced to a second, more fundamental issue: the failure of the British economy. Business confidence has cratered. A July survey by business lobby The Institute of Directors (IoD) found that more than 80% of British executives were pessimistic about the economy; a gloom deeper than that felt even after Brexit, the Covid-19 pandemic, or Liz Truss' catastrophic mini-budget that almost bankrupted the country. The institute's economic confidence index has plunged to a record low of -72. What went wrong? But what has gone wrong? Essentially, Britain's economy is no longer able to deliver rising living standards, reasonable costs of living or acceptable levels of public services. The state has little fiscal room to ease budgetary trade-offs, while politicians have been either unable or unwilling to confront the difficult choices they entail, be they on welfare, taxation, spending or structural reform. Starmer's caution on welfare reform during the 2024 general election campaign is symptomatic of this broader political paralysis. Economic data underscores the scale of the problem. According to the 2025 Living Standards Review from the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, real disposable income per capita rose by a paltry 14% between 2007 and 2024, compared with 48% in the halcyon days between 1990 and 2007. Given the collapse in economic fortunes of Britons, it is no surprise disillusionment is rife. The International Monetary Fund similarly reports that annual trend growth in GDP per capita has declined from 2.5% between 1990 and 2007 to just 0.7% from 2008 to 2025, which is the steepest drop among the G7 plus Spain. Had pre-2008 trends continued, the UK's GDP per capita in 2025 would be a full 33% higher than it is now, representing the largest shortfall in this group. This drop is fundamentally a result of stagnant productivity. Between 2007 and 2023, output per hour in the UK rose by just 6%, among peers outperforming only Italy. In contrast, the US posted a 22% increase, while the Eurozone averaged 10% (an important consideration given the reality of Brexit). The UK's torpid productivity is of grave socioeconomic concern. When economies cease to grow, everything becomes zero-sum; more for one group of people means less for others. The problem is exacerbated if demographic change increases the number of older beneficiaries of fiscal transfers relative to that of younger, productive taxpayers. The overwhelming questions in politics become less about growing the pie, but rather a race to contain collective frustration. Arresting this decline first requires being honest about past failures. There needs to be an acknowledgement that the economic model born of the Thatcher neoliberal revolution has not delivered long-term gains. Much of the post-1980s performance was a mirage created by a global credit boom to which the UK was more exposed than any other developed economy. The act of economic suicide that was Brexit has not helped either. The Centre for European Reform estimates that by mid-2022, the UK's GDP was 5.5% lower than it would have been had it remained in the EU. Structural weaknesses These structural weaknesses have become apparent by the increasingly precarious state of public finances. The Office for Budget Responsibility has flagged the UK's perilous position; the country now has the sixth-highest debt, fifth-highest deficit and third-highest borrowing costs among developed economies. June 2025 saw the second-highest government borrowing on record, surpassed only by June 2020 at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Bond markets have traditionally given more leeway to Britain because of its reputation for seriousness, political stability and fiscal prudence. But Liz Truss' disastrous spell as PM seems to have blown that premium for good, while Starmer's Labour looks more like a teetering administration on its last legs than a barely one year old government with a huge majority in the House of Commons. Nigel Farage looks on eagerly from the wings. Last month, the government failed to pass modest welfare reforms that would have raised a measly £6.5-billion (R156-billion), a fraction of the £1.3-trillion (R31-trillion) annual public spend. Embattled Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves has instead raised taxes on labour and targeted non-domiciled residents, risking the flight of high earners who contribute disproportionately to both tax revenues and general economic activity, particularly in the all-important regional powerhouse of London. While an outright crisis — whether a debt blow out or social unrest — is still on balance unlikely, the long-term trajectory looks bleak. The UK faces challenges not unlike those confronting other post-industrial democracies. But without access to the EU single market, burdened with a dysfunctional political class and bound by stagnant economic productivity, Britain appears locked in a slow and grinding descent. The post-1980s era of growth is over. What lies ahead for Britain may not necessarily be an immediate crisis, but it is likely to be a drawn-out period of socioeconomic pain and inexorable decline. DM
