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Consulting firm Bain & Company’s offices, in the exclusive Melrose Arch precinct in Johannesburg, aren't flash at all. Certainly not as slick as the offices of McKinsey & Company, one of Bain's fiercest rivals in the lucrative world of multi-million dollar consulting contracts.
Situated on the fifth floor of an office building on High Street, the office is neat and understated, and is where Vittorio Massone, a sharp-dressing Italian management consultant, directed operations while he was helping Tom Moyane reshape the South African Revenue Service (SARS).
In March this year, I was invited to the company’s offices by Marlynie Moodley, head of external relations at Bain. Moodley’s invitation was innocuous enough: she wanted to arrange an "in person" meeting with Massone. did I have any dietary requirements, seeing as the meeting was taking place over lunch? It was unclear what exactly they wanted to discuss, but given that Bain – along with Gartner, another consulting firm – was responsible for Moyane’s plans to restructure SARS, a visit couldn’t do harm.
Moodley was a gracious host as we sat down in in Bain’s Thlakano Meeting Room. We superficially discussed the continuing saga around SARS, the infamous KPMG report into the so-called "rogue unit", and Moyane’s future. There was still no real indication why exactly I was there.
And when Massone walked in, it was still rather murky what the topic of discussion would be, except that it would entail SARS.While waiting for lunch, we exchanged ideas around current affairs and why SARS had fallen on hard times, with Massone explaining the extent of his company’s involvement with the revenue service.
Massone, asking that the information he provided stayed off the record, explained Bain’s involvement in the restructuring of SARS in great detail, setting out how they came to work with the revenue service and what the scope of their responsibilities were. He produced a number of documents, organograms and other information sheets which seemed to support his argument that SARS was better off for Bain’s involvement. (Much of what we discussed has since emerged at the Nugent commission into tax administration. I, however still have an obligation to keep Massone’s information confidential, and will do so.)
Lunch was served in the boardroom, and consisted of a generous helping of lightly seared salmon fillet served on a bed of spinach. We ate while Massone, who looked fit, well-groomed and wearing an obviously expensive dress shirt, spoke about the need to reinvent SARS and how important Bain considered the contract to be. The salmon was pretty good, but the clock was ticking, and beyond Massone giving background on the SARS contract – which I couldn’t use – there wasn’t much to the conversation.
Massone was not inclined to answer questions, while Moodley seemed to insinuate that the media didn’t know what it was talking about.When the plates were cleared, the knives came out. Massone moved forward in his chair, while Moodley took issue with our reporting on SARS, saying a piece on HuffPost saying that Bain "inexplicably recommended that the Large Business Centre (LBC) be restructured" was wrong, because there were good reasons for it. It wasn’t inexplicable at all, she protested.
Massone and Moodley teamed up, combining vehement rejections of Bain’s alleged complicity in the downfall of SARS with equally strong assertions that Bain’s work at SARS wasn’t only crucial, the firm was proud of it.
But what about this workstream, unit or directorate? I asked.
"Really? What a joke!" Massone replied.
What about this function, for which SARS was renowned?
"Are you serious?" he countered.
Listening to them, it was a miracle that SARS remained a functioning entity for so long. Bain, with the mandate given them by Moyane, not only saved the revenue service, it modernised creaking and outdated operating systems. And far from facilitating the destruction of specialist investigation units, Bain’s intervention, in actual fact, strengthened SARS’ investigating capability.
Massone and Moodley were adamant, insistent. There wasn’t much room for dissent, and it was clear they were unhappy with HuffPost’s reporting. Bain was good, SARS was better, and Moyane was the best. Anything contrary to that: hogwash.
But the house that Vittorio built has since come crashing down, with the Nugent commission hearing that Massone had been in contact with Moyane since long before he was appointed commissioner at SARS, and that the Bain-induced restructuring has cost the state billions of rands in lost revenue. Mark Kingon, caretaker commissioner in Moyane’s stead, has started reviving both the specialist investigation units and the LBC. And Massone is back in Italy due to illness.
The Nugent inquiry is continuing.
** Pieter du Toit is News24’s assistant editor for in-depth news. He is former editor of HuffPost South Africa.
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