A leaked Tekkie Town letter to the CEO of Steinhoff Africa Retail (Star) has revealed a clash of cultures. In a tumultuous few days at Star’s Speciality division, its CEO, Bernard Mostert, has resigned and the company has been served notice of eviction at its national distribution centre. These developments sent Star’s share price more than 4% lower on Tuesday. Business Day has seen a copy of a message sent by the chief information officer to Star CEO Leon Lourens. Many of the problems that came to a head on Monday evening — when Mostert led a mass walkout at the company — stem from the deteriorating relationship between Tekkie Town founder Braam van Huyssteen and the executive of Star led by Lourens. This was aggravated by Star’s failure to recognise the terms of a bonus scheme agreed to between then Steinhoff CEO Markus Jooste and Van Huyssteen at the time Steinhoff acquired Tekkie Town in 2016.
The message — written by Tekkie Town’s erstwhile chief information officer, Will...
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