ROB ROSE: Sanlam’s stein-ache
Many of SA’s blue-chip institutions have been scalded by Steinhoff’s collapse. The 100-year-old Sanlam seems to be hurting more than most
There’s a scene in the third Godfather movie in which Michael Corleone, the don of the fictional Cosa Nostra family, speaks of how the freshly ordained Pope John Paul I is already "cleaning house" in the Vatican. "He should be careful," warns Corleone. "It’s dangerous to be an honest man." (In real life, Pope John Paul I served for just 33 days, before dying of a sudden heart attack.) Some of those who served on the board of Steinhoff when it was run by Markus Jooste (now widely considered to be less than honest) will know the irony behind Corleone’s sentiment all too well. Take Johan van Zyl, one of the most fêted businessmen around. An expert in agricultural policy and former vice-chancellor of the University of Pretoria, Van Zyl was plucked from the academic world to be CEO of short-term insurer Santam in 2001.Jooste quit on December 6, just after the board learnt of "accounting irregularities" at the company. It seems he and his friends in Europe had constructed a labyrinthine n...
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