EDITORIAL: It’s about time Markus Jooste faces justice in Germany

The wheels of justice move painfully slowly, but move they do. The case against Markus Jooste, who abruptly resigned as CEO of Steinhoff after the company shocked investors with revelations of a more than R100bn hole in its accounts in 2017, got under way in Germany on Tuesday.  

The charge sheet from German prosecutors more or less confirms the modus operandi behind the biggest accounting fraud in the history of SA as outlined in a heavily truncated investigation report by PwC.

To be sure, the legal proceedings do not mean Jooste, who was a no-show because of vague “passport problems”, will be convicted soon. He might not even get to sit in front of the German judge soon because there is a strong likelihood he will fight extradition attempts.  

But the trial is a step in reassuring the public, which has a legitimate reason to complain that the rich and powerful outside government escape justice for their crimes with too much ease.

It turns an unforgiving spotlight on the National Prosecuting Authority, which has yet to charge anyone about the fraud. If the authority is to challenge the perception here and abroad that SA has an inappropriate tolerance for private sector corruption, and meekly watches on as financial crimes run rampant, it needs to add the Jooste investigation to its list of priorities.