Bain deserved to be banned. But so do SAP, ABB, McKinsey & Co, KPMG and every other company that colluded with state actors to rob South Africans blind.

The government has an inconsistent and deeply troubling approach when it comes to sanctioning companies that betray the public trust through corruption and poor standards of service delivery. One need only look at the Bain & Company debacle to see this in stark relief.

Bain's role in the hollowing out of the SA Revenue Service (SARS) under Tom Moyane's leadership during the State Capture years is now well documented.

For a long time, nothing was done locally. It took the actions of the UK government, driven by Lord Peter Hain, to finally impose real consequences. Under that international pressure, the SA Treasury decided to place Bain & Co on the government's Database of Restricted Suppliers, which essentially banned Bain & Co from doing business with any level of the state, including local government. This ultimately gave rise to Bain closing its local advisory practice in South Africa in July.

Bain paid the ultimate price for its outrageous and unacceptable conduct during the height of the State Capture years, and it was a long-overdue outcome.

But let's be clear: this decision to ban Bain didn't come from decisive action by our authorities. It came under pressure from the UK government, which...