Why anti-corruption activists Lord Peter Hain, Paul O'Sullivan, now gunning for global law firm Hogan Lovells

On December 18th when 4 700 delegates from South Africa’s ruling African National Congress voted for a progressive and economics savvy president, they triggered the unravelling of what had become a criminal state. Among the leaders of this flotilla of activists which achieved this unlikely victory are South African-raised British politician Lord Peter Hain; and Irish-raised forensic investigator Paul O’Sullivan. They got together in London this week to share notes on their latest crusade – a concerted attack on global law firm Hogan Lovells. The say that just like accountants KPMG, management consultants McKinsey and software multinational SAP, the law firm is deeply implicated in the network of institutionalised corruption, popularly referred to as state capture. Since the new president Cyril Ramaphosa’s appointment in January, the pressure has been cranked up on those implicated in the industrial scale pillaging of at least R100bn worth of South African publicly owned assets.