Johannesburg - More than 100 members of the African People’s Convention (APC) led by their president, Themba Godi, were on Friday expected to picket outside the gates of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in Pretoria over the lack of action against controversial retail giant Steinhoff and its former leader Markus Jooste.
The Steinhoff saga has been reportedly the biggest corporate fraud in the history of recorded criminal activities in South Africa. More than R106 billion worth of investments were wiped off as a result of alleged bloated books and creative accounting by Jooste.
About R21bn of public servants’ pensions were lost. The company is facing many lawsuits and has been criticised by workers and some investors who have lost their money.
“This is the mother of all corruption; it’s just not about corporate governance and business ethics; it is crime that has led to a huge number of losses to ordinary people who have suffered because of this. So when we look at it, we must not just not look at it as just processes. Let’s look at the human factor and cost behind this criminality,” Godi said.
He called for a change in perception in how the NPA and other justice institutions handle criminal or corruption matters.
“From the colonial era to the present there are stereotypes that have been created that the African natives or the African are the purveyors of all things evil and unethical, and the beneficiaries of apartheid are the epitome of virtue.
“Part of our grievance is that the the NPA must withdraw from the arrangement they made with Steinhoff because of what Steinhoff has done, they have said ‘look you guys don’t have money and we will make available R30m but we will not give it to you, we will give it to PwC and PwC will investigate on your behalf’.”
Godi questioned the ethics of the leadership of Steinhoff. He said the entire company leadership should take the fall for the losses in Steinhoff.
“We cannot accept that a state agency should take money from a company they are investigating,” he said.
The Star