Steinhoff honchos to skip hearing
It looks set to be a no-show for Steinhoff at Wednesday’s review before four parliamentary committees as the company’s nonexecutive directors, management as well as both Markus Jooste and Ben La Grange have all said they will not be attending.
It looks set to be a no-show for Steinhoff at Wednesday’s review before four parliamentary committees as the company’s nonexecutive directors and management as well as both Markus Jooste and Ben la Grange have all said they will not be attending.
Heather Sonn, chairwoman of the Steinhoff supervisory board, told the committee the board had limited rights and no clear mandate to represent Steinhoff ahead of a shareholder vote to confirm board members. That vote will be held at the annual general meeting in April.
Sonn said before this vote and in the absence of any members of the group’s management board her authority to represent Steinhoff was uncertain. She said none of the corporate executives or members of the management board could attend because they were involved in strategic conferences.
La Grange’s lawyer told the committee that La Grange had only been advised on March 23 that he had been requested to attend Wednesday’s review. As he had not had sufficient time to consult with his advisers, La Grange would not appear before the committees, his lawyer said.
And former Steinhoff CEO Jooste has once again declined an invitation to appear before the four parliamentary committees.
On Wednesday, the committees of finance, public accounts, public service and administration, and trade and industry will hold a second hearing on developments at Steinhoff that led to the dramatic collapse in its share price.
In a letter, Jooste’s attorney, Callie Albertyn of De Klerk & Van Gend, noted that Jooste did not believe he could “meaningfully” assist the committees because he resigned as CEO on December 6.
“As you correctly state in your letter under reply, the Hawks have indicated that they are investigating criminal complaints against our client. All indications are that our client will probably be prosecuted with regard to the Steinhoff matter,” the lawyers said. “Appearing before the committees to be questioned on Steinhoff will, in these circumstances, undermine our client’s right to a fair trial guaranteed in section 35(3) of the Constitution.”
Meanwhile, summons are to be issued by Parliament for former SAA chairwoman Dudu Myeni, Duduzane Zuma and the three Gupta brothers — Ajay, Atul and Rajesh — for them to appear before the inquiry into state capture being conducted by the portfolio committee on public enterprises.
The decision to issue summons was taken by the committee at a closed meeting on Tuesday following the five’s repeated failure to appear before the inquiry. Myeni has pleaded illness, which she has said prevented her from attending the inquiry, but inquiry chairman Zukiswa Rantho said the committee did not accept this excuse and would demand that she make an appearance.