SA's civil servants were just one group to watch with incredulity the performance of Steinhoff's former CEO, Markus Jooste, in parliament this week, in which he pedalled to shift the blame everywhere else. It was the first time since Steinhoff's share collapse in December that Jooste had emerged from his villa in Hermanus, Western Cape, to give his version of events. Ultimately, it was a version that former colleagues described as "implausible". Much of the questioning in parliament revolved around an SMS Jooste sent to colleagues in which he admitted to "big mistakes" and said four other Steinhoff executives had nothing to do with the mistakes. Many Steinhoff insiders thought at the time that this meant Jooste was willing to take responsibility for the fraud, evidence of which is apparently mounting in an investigation by PwC to be released in November. Instead, Jooste told the inquiry that "the mistakes I was referring to was the choice in 2007 [to make Austrian businessman Dr And...

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