"Mckinsey references its commitment to BEE. This seems a cynical precursor to them advancing an argument that this (Trillian) commission/partnership structure is the just way things are done in SA." 

But is it not the way things are done in SA? Did all the BEE tenderpreneurs amass their wealth by actually contributing something or did the cash in on their political status/connections?

Is it possible for any business foreign or local to do business without skirting very close to corruption?