Fabricant was criticised for having an apartheid-era flag of South Africa on display on the mantelpiece of his parliamentary office. He responded that he had several flags on display from countries where his former company had clients back in the 1980s. Asked in 2018 if he regretted working for what was effectively an arm of the apartheid state in South Africa, he replied: "There is so much we can all regret with hindsight…" and said he did not condone what was going on at the time.