RON DERBY: Private sector's genius by reputation lies exposed
What the collapse of Steinhoff - what else is one to call it? - tells us is that there's a much bigger problem of governance beyond the corridors of government departments
On Steinhoff's board of erstwhile gentlemen and a paltry two women are five chartered accountants, and on these most hallowed of seats, well up until a few weeks ago, sat three former chief executive officers of major corporations. Among the people leading the company along with retailing legend Christo Wiese and his 36-year-old son, Jacob, are heavy hitters such as Steve Booysen, former CEO of Absa, and Johan van Zyl, the former head of Sanlam, who has been credited with inspiring its comeback story over the past decade. For good measure, in its executive management, Sean Summers, former Pick n Pay CEO, is listed as a retail executive. That's quite an impressive bunch of CVs that would on any given day pass any credibility test. Yet these very same people have somehow been duped, missing fraud that amounts to billions, for which former CEO Markus Jooste has admitted ultimate responsibility. We've become accustomed to such stories in the realm of our deteriorating state utilities in...
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