[Image: Raymond Preston]
It’s been over a year since former Steinhoff CEO Markus Jooste met his mysterious end, and yet… crickets. No clarity, no closure, just a suspiciously quiet void where transparency should be.
IOL is revisiting the story, but the South African Police Service (SAPS), who have perfected the art of the disappearing act, have released not a peep, nor a press release, just silence thick enough to choke on.
Officially, Jooste died by suicide last year. That’s the line. But what really happened? Because, let’s be honest, nothing about this smells like an open-and-shut case.
According to reports, Jooste died from a gunshot wound at his fancy Hermanus address. But hang on, where are the facts? Were there witnesses? Was this even properly investigated? What’s in the post-mortem? Anyone?
And let’s not forget the impeccable timing. A day before his death, Jooste was in the hot seat with the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), staring down a hefty R475 million fine for cooking the books at Steinhoff.
That scandal didn’t just make headlines, it rattled South Africa’s entire financial sector and torched billions in public funds like a bonfire of investor trust.
Naturally, civil society isn’t buying the silence. The Progressive Civics Congress (PCC) has had enough. Deputy Secretary Sipho Shange called out “the unresolved questions surrounding Jooste’s death” and the larger mess of public accountability.
“Jooste was involved in compromising the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) funds, amounting to R200 billion belonging to the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF),” Shange stated.
“The Steinhoff scandal was a national issue, yet we have no answers about what happened to those pension funds.
“The public deserves transparency and accountability—and the silence from authorities raises suspicion.”
Shange also lobbed some well-deserved criticism at labour unions, too, once trusted sentinels of worker rights, now suspiciously quiet.
He slammed their inertia, arguing that their silence is helping grease the wheels of economic decline. Investment confidence is shot, budget deficits are growing, and who’s feeling the fallout? Every day South Africans, of course.
Crime expert and veteran whistleblower Mary de Haas isn’t buying the official story either. She called out the systemic failures plaguing police investigations and the glaring lack of urgency from those in charge.
“Questions about whether Jooste truly died by suicide or was murdered remain unanswered,” de Haas said.
“The only way to find out is through the post-mortem report, but access to such crucial documents is often denied or delayed. Without it, we are left to speculate.”
Speculation, she warned, is dangerous, but so is the growing pattern of hush-hush deaths conveniently orbiting major financial and political scandals. If you’re smelling a cover-up, you’re not alone.
So, what’s SAPS saying now? According to the last half-hearted update given to IOL earlier this year, Western Cape’s then-acting police spokesperson, Colonel Andre Traut, mumbled that the case is still open, with no actual progress to report.
“The docket concerning Markus Jooste’s death is still open, and we are awaiting further findings,” Traut stated.
Translation: We’ve got a file and some paperclips, but don’t hold your breath.
Jooste’s fall from boardroom titan to disgraced fraudster was dramatic enough, but the drama didn’t die with him. His death left behind a toxic cloud of unanswered questions and about R200 billion worth of doubt in the air.
Now, 13 months later, the public, civil society, and those robbed by financial misconduct are still asking: where are the answers?
Instead, all they’re getting is a wall of silence, a wall that looks more like a fortress every day. Until it cracks, trust in the system continues to rot.
Meanwhile, national police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe and Western Cape police spokesperson Brigadier Novelwa Potane are sticking to the same playbook: no comment, no explanation, nothing to see here.
But we all know better, don’t we?
[Source: IOL]
