Parliament, Tuesday, 19 March 2019 – The standing committees on Finance and Public Accounts together with the portfolio committees on Trade and Industry, and Public Service and Administration have roundly condemned Mr Markus Jooste for not cooperating with the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) investigation into financial irregularities at Steinhoff that occurred while he was CEO.

The committees asked why he had avoided the investigations, if he had nothing to hide. The committees are appalled that he is still a free man, seemingly without shame or a care in the world.

The Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Finance, Mr Yunus Carrim, said: “Our committees want those responsible for the biggest corporate scandal in this country’s history in jail as soon as possible. Of course, we don’t want Stenihoff revealing the names of those accused of the wrongdoing in the PwC report if it will undermine the case against them in the Dutch criminal justice system. However, following advice from Parliament’s Legal Services Unit that this would not happen, our committees instructed Steinhoff to release the names.”

They are Mr Markus Jooste, Mr Dirk Schreiber, Mr Ben Le Grange and Mr Stehan Grobler.

Three other corporate entities implicated are the Campion Group (Fulcrum Group), Talgarth Group and the TG Group and the people accused are Mr Siegmar Schmidt, Mr Alan Evans, Mr Jean-Noel Pasquier and Mr Ramano.

While recognising the complex nature of this corporate crime, the committees expressed their deep dismay at the extremely slow progress being made by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in bringing the accused to justice.

The committees once again urged the Hawks and the NPA to act expeditiously and also to secure the necessary auditing, forensic and other technical expertise necessary to complete this task. They encouraged the Hawks, the NPA and the regulators to secure the PwC report from Steinhoff within 24 hours, if the law permits.

It was also decided that the Hawks and NPA must report back to the four committee chairpersons every Friday on progress until 7 May when the current term of Parliament lapses.

The committees met today with Steinhoff, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Companies and Intellectual Properties Commission, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority, the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors, the Hawks and the NPA.

ISSUED BY PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSONS OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON FINANCE, MR YUNUS CARRIM; STANDING COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC ACCOUNTS, MR THEMBA GODI; PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATION, MR JOE MASWANGANYI; AND PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND INDUSTRY, MS JOANMARIAE FUBBS

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