How Markus Jooste sold Steinhoff its headquarters
Steinhoff bought its head office from a company owned by Markus Jooste and Danie van der Merwe
The notion that Steinhoff had any semblance of financial control over related-party transactions is slipping as steadily as the company’s share price ahead of the much- awaited findings of PwC’s forensic investigation. An exposé by the FM and amaBhungane two weeks ago showed how — over two decades of self-dealing involving multiple entities designed to disguise their interests — former CEO Markus Jooste and the Steinhoff family enriched themselves at the expense of shareholders. It’s becoming increasingly hard not to think of Steinhoff as anything other than a giant corporate piñata that Jooste thrashed with a bat every time he wanted a sweet. Now it has emerged that the Stellenbosch office park where Steinhoff has its head office was first bought in 2006 by a company apparently owned by Jooste called Phahamiso Trading & Investments. A few years later, Phahamiso was then sold to Steinhoff. The multitenanted De Wagenweg Office Park (loosely translated as "the wagon road") comprises n...
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