Steinhoff implosion sounds alarm bells
How to lose R220-billion in less than a week? This is the sardonic question readers want answered when they dip into the latest offering by James-Brent Styan, Steinhoff: Inside SA's biggest corporate crash, or the Afrikaans version, Steinhoff en die Stellenbosse Boys.
And the book does not disappoint. It reads like a thriller as it chronicles the rise and fall of the retail holding company and its head honcho, Markus Jooste.
At the George launch of the book on Wednesday evening, Styan outlined how top auditing firms were suckered into believing all was well in the vastly overvalued empire. Styan - an articulate and entertaining speaker - said he truly believes that former Steinhoff chair Christo Wiese had complete faith in Jooste and had no idea the books were being cooked.
Wiese is suing Steinhoff for R59 billion.
Styan, who is also the author of Blackout: The Eskom Crisis as well as Heartbreaker: Christiaan Barnard and the First Heart Transplant, warns that if Steinhoff had managed to pull the wool over the eyes of various top auditing firms for many years, this can be taking place across the world, placing investments at great risk.
Is our financial system a house of cards? "It could be happening at many multi-national companies. We are investing in companies with very complex business models led by
We are investing in companies with very complex business models led by strong managing directors used to getting what they want.
strong managing directors used to getting what they want. Would any of these companies be able to withstand the type of scrutiny Steinhoff was subject to? We need to demand answers to difficult questions and be far more vigilant."
The launch was held at the Honda showroom in Langenhoven Road and sponsored by Honda George, Doughgetters Accounting, Henties and Citadel.
Styan did not speak about the Tekkie Town debacle as the court application to get Tekkie Town back from Pepkor was instigated after the publication of his book. At the end of May, the founder and former CEO of Tekkie Town, Braam van Huyssteen from George, said in an interview on The Money Show, that he was not angry with Markus Jooste and still sees his horse racing buddy from time to time. Van Huyssteen did not attend the launch.