Fedusa cheers Booysen’s exit from supervisory board

STEINHOFF International is set to lose two members of its supervisory board after Steve Booysen and Angela Krüger-Steinhoff notified the troubled retailer that they were stepping down at the end of the AGM next month, having completed their mission following the 2017 accounting scandal.

Steinhoff will hold its AGM on August 30 in the Netherlands.

Booysen and Krüger-Steinhoff were retained as members of the supervisory board at last year’s AGM with a 56 percent and 59 percent backing respectively by the shareholders. However, the two received the lowest support from shareholders.

Booysen, former Absa Group chief executive, has been on the board since 2015 and was heading Steinhoff’s audit and risk committee.

Steinhoff said: “With the completion of the forensic investigation, the publication of 2017 and 2018 annual reports, and the expected completion of the financial restructuring in early August 2019, Steve Booysen has achieved the objectives he set for himself shortly after the events of 2017. We thank him for chairing the audit and risk committee and his role on the supervisory board during this critical time.”

Last year the Federation of Unions of South Africa (Fedusa) strongly objected to their re-election to the board and the trade union picketed outside the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

Fedusa acting general secretary Riefdah Ajam said yesterday that the federation welcomed the expected departure of Booysen.

“Fedusa applauds the announcement that both Booysen and Krüger-Steinhoff will not be reappointed to the Steinhoff board, following the 2017 corporate scandal. After calling for Booysen to fall on his sword in 2018, Fedusa is vindicated that as members of the audit and risk committee, Booysen, in particular, must be held accountable for his part in failing to prevent the catastrophic event that saw close to R17 billion being wiped off the JSE,” Ajam said.

The union said it remained adamant that Booysen must be declared delinquent for his role that saw thousands of pensioners left destitute after their life savings were plundered.

Steinhoff said Krüger-Steinhoff was stepping down after the AGM in order to focus on the family business.

“Angela is leaving the supervisory board at a time that the group has made significant progress with the financial restructuring and the process is nearing full implementation. We thank her for her contribution, especially during the past eighteen months,” the group said.

Steinhoff’s audit and risk committee is making progress in the process of selecting and recommending an external auditor to the supervisory board for nomination.

“The selection of the external auditor is a discussion item on the AGM agenda. The company will inform the market of any further progress in this regard when appropriate,” the group said. The supervisory board aims to finalise the composition of its committees shortly after the AGM.