Parliament must ‘hold the line’ on Steinhoff
26 March 2018
The appearance of Steinhoff executives before the Standing Committee on Finance (SCOF) on Wednesday, 28 March 2018, is an opportunity for Parliament to seek clarity on the proposed financial rewards for Steinhoff board members Heather Sonn, Johan van Zyl and Steve Booysen.
It is simply reckless that the same individuals who were running the company when financial reports were apparently manipulated are now being “rewarded” for fixing the mess they created. The Steinhoff board is under a moral obligation to minimise financial losses to investors, not least of which are the pensioners and members of the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF).
The DA will write to the PIC, as a Steinhoff shareholder, to request that they not only hold the Steinhoff board and executives to account but to refuse the obscene financial rewards that have apparently been proposed.
Steinhoff executives have failed to show real remorse on the financial damage that the accounting scandal has inflicted on the pensions of ordinary government employees. No one personifies this defiance than former Steinhoff CEO, Markus Jooste, who will most likely ignore the invitation to appear before the SCOF and other parliamentary committees.