At last, the long arm of the law catches up with Markus Jooste

The wheels of justice turn slowly, but seldom as slowly as in the case of Markus Jooste, the former CEO of Steinhoff. The furniture empire of which he was the mastermind imploded in 2017, after Jooste failed to pitch for a board meeting and then announced he was stepping down. The result was a collapse in the Steinhoff share price that left thousands of investors, among them pensioners and government employees, out of pocket. It is said to be the biggest corporate scandal in South Africa’s history. The amounts of money make the proceeds of state capture seem like small change. The scandal rocked corporate South Africa, for Jooste had become the darling of the JSE, an investor’s dream.

In the process he accumulated properties, including the historic Lanzerac in Stellenbosch. There were also race horses, a house for a girlfriend, a yacht, luxury cars and other trappings of wealth. This was proof of the efficacy of the free enterprise system and, although the head honcho became spectacularly wealthy, millions of other South Africans shared in the bounty.

But the soaring share price hid the reality, which was that it was all too good to be true. Jooste’s Steinhoff group set its sights on becoming an international player on the furniture scene. But analysts wondered whether the exorbitant sums paid for failing companies abroad were in fact a concealed attempt to shift money overseas, thus contravening exchange control regulations.

The transactions helped Jooste and his charmed circle receive massive bonuses. A scandal of epic proportions was in the making. To many it seemed an open and shut case, especially given the vigour with which corruption was tackled in the public sector.

But if South Africans thought it would just be a matter of time before law-enforcement authorities acted against Jooste, they were sorely mistaken. Apart from an appearance in parliament that yielded little, Jooste seemed to have emerged from the debacle not evidently poorer but largely unapologetic.

In the five years that followed he lived a life of luxury, and he apparently even told friends it would all “blow over’’. And regrettably, much of the public found itself in agreement. The scam was just too complicated, too clever to be cracked with the limited resources at the disposal of the police and the Hawks.

But behind the scenes, unheralded, developments were unfolding. These included several attachments of property and assets. This week matters took a big step forward, with the news that the Reserve Bank had been granted an order in the Western Cape High Court to attach substantial assets.

At last, there is hope anew that Jooste will not get away with everything.

Jooste has been co-operating with authorities, but not so much so that there wasn’t, in the words of one Reserve Bank investigator, substantial hiding of assets taking place.

We trust this is but the first big move towards bringing an end to the Steinhoff saga. But this is not certain. Even as the Bank’s legal team was approaching the court, it was at pains to point out that it had gone to great lengths to ensure its application was kept under wraps until the order granted had been executed, such was the fear that further hiding of assets would take place.

Let’s hope the process initiated by the Bank will further spur the Hawks and the police to get to the bottom of the matter. Simultaneously, is it too much to hope that the funds allegedly salted away by Jooste will be returned in time to their rightful owners? That justice will be served, and the long wait for a resolution in this matter will come to an end. Not a happy ending, but less gloomy than it might have been had Jooste been left to enjoy his riches undisturbed.

To many it seemed an open and shut case, especially given the vigour with which corruption was tackled in the public sector