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Louis du Preez, CEO of Steinhoff. Picture: Dwayne Senior/Bloomberg
A good week
Steinhoff shares have more than doubled over the past month, seeing R5-plus for the first time in four years. It’s no small thanks to CEO Louis du Preez for placating the founders of Tekkie Town, who’d wanted to liquidate the business they ended up owning a chunk of. Their settlement means a R25bn package to square off disgruntled former shareholders can go ahead, while the news that subsidiary Mattress Firm is to be listed in the US should mean more cash to pay off mammoth debts. Therein lies the rub: you may have doubled your money, but what’s left of Markus Jooste’s empire is still a very shaky bet.
Patricia de Lille. Picture: Alon Skuy
A bad week
Riding a fix-it ticket through a rival party to Cyril Ramaphosa’s cabinet, then watching as parliament burns, seems all in a career’s work for Aunty Pat. Still, that’s some bald-faced fibbing public works minister Patricia de Lille indulged in last week when she declared parliament’s sprinkler system "fully functional". In fact it was last serviced in 2017, and a report warning about the woeful state of parly’s fire safety systems apparently went ignored. But who cares about crucial maintenance when there are curtain swatches for the parliamentary village to be attended to, and shiny new fences to be built?
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
A bad week for Patricia de Lille
A good week
Steinhoff shares have more than doubled over the past month, seeing R5-plus for the first time in four years. It’s no small thanks to CEO Louis du Preez for placating the founders of Tekkie Town, who’d wanted to liquidate the business they ended up owning a chunk of. Their settlement means a R25bn package to square off disgruntled former shareholders can go ahead, while the news that subsidiary Mattress Firm is to be listed in the US should mean more cash to pay off mammoth debts. Therein lies the rub: you may have doubled your money, but what’s left of Markus Jooste’s empire is still a very shaky bet.
A bad week
Riding a fix-it ticket through a rival party to Cyril Ramaphosa’s cabinet, then watching as parliament burns, seems all in a career’s work for Aunty Pat. Still, that’s some bald-faced fibbing public works minister Patricia de Lille indulged in last week when she declared parliament’s sprinkler system "fully functional". In fact it was last serviced in 2017, and a report warning about the woeful state of parly’s fire safety systems apparently went ignored. But who cares about crucial maintenance when there are curtain swatches for the parliamentary village to be attended to, and shiny new fences to be built?
Public works says it maintained parliament properly and can’t be blamed for fire damage
State faces R221m bill for uninsured parliamentary buildings after fire
MPs have many questions about parliament’s security systems
End to Steinhoff pain in sight as settlement finally within reach
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Published by Arena Holdings and distributed with the Financial Mail on the last Thursday of every month except December and January.