Featuring: Lord Peter Hain - veteran anti-apartheid activist and life-long friend and ally of South Africa

Chamber Connects: Lord Hain - UK whistle-blower on SA State Capture

Lord Hain has been instrumental in surfacing the corruption, money laundering and state capture led by the Gupta family during the rule of President Jacob Zuma

Lord Hain's letter was "a new twist in a giant corruption scandal that is shaking the South African state, and damaging the reputations of a number of global companies". 

Peter Hain's "smoking gun" provides bank accounts detailing how Guptas took billions from SA.

£400m may inadvertently have been laundered by HSBC and Standard Chartered.

Lord Hain accuses Hogan Lovells of propping up state capture.

"I'm very hopeful and enthused about Cyril's presidency because I think he's a uniquely qualified leader for this period in South African history."

Peter needs no introduction to many having recently again taken a stand for a fair SA for all - bringing down corruption, exposing it at a time of change in SA.

One needs to listen to him first hand to begin to understand the risk that South Africa was in of  "going over the edge". 

SPEAKERS' BIOGRAPHIES

Lord Peter Hain was born in 1950 and brought up in South Africa, he has been in politics for over 50 years.  His South African-born parents, Adelaide and Walter, after being jailed and then banned for their anti-apartheid activism in Pretoria were forced to leave for exile in London in March 1966 after the Government instructed all architectural firms from employing his father.

Aged 19, Peter became a British anti-apartheid leader, especially in stopping all-white South African sports tours from 1969 onwards. In December 2015 he received from South Africa the OR Tambo National Award in Silver for his 'excellent contribution to the freedom struggle'.   

He is a Vice-President of Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA). MP for Neath 1991-2015, he served in the Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown for twelve years, seven in the Cabinet. As Secretary of State for Northern Ireland he negotiated an end to the conflict, bringing old enemies together in government in 2007.  In November 2015 he was introduced to the House of Lords.  

The author of 21 books, his memoirs Outside In (London, Biteback 2012; and his parents' story Ad & Wal: values, duty, sacrifice in Apartheid South Africa (London, Biteback, 2014).  Chairman of the Donald Woods Foundation charity, Patron of the Canon Collins Trust  and a Trustee of the Listen Charity, he is Visiting Professor at the University of Witwatersrand Business School.

Richard Citron MA(Cantab) FCA CTA (F) TEP MAE is a tax partner in BDO's London office.  He has been at BDO's London office since 1979 and has been a partner since 1988.  After graduating from Clare College Cambridge he qualified as an accountant (ICAEW) and as a member of the Chartered Institute of Tax (CTA).  He is now a fellow of both.

Richard is a member of STEP, the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners.  STEP was founded in BDO's Baker Street offices.

Richard is also a Practicing Associate of the Academy of Experts, having appeared in Court as an expert witness on a number of occasions.

Richard practices in many areas of tax including corporate, personal, trusts and individuals, generally with a cross-border or international aspect. He acts for executives posted  to and from the UK, including advising on the structure of their benefits and remuneration packages, and advises companies investing into and out of the UK.

David Warneke is a Partner at BDO, is the National Head of Tax Technical for BDO South Africa and heads up the Tax Consulting division of BDO in the Western Cape.

David is Adjunct Associate Professor in Tax at the University of Cape Town and was recently appointed to the Tax Court in South Africa by the State President.  He is also a member of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants' National Tax Committee and also its Southern Region Tax Committee.

David has 20 years of tax experience and consults to large listed and unlisted multi-national and local corporate entities. He has extensive experience in advising corporate clients on a very wide range of tax issues.