DA seeks confirmation from Steinhoff that investigation deadline will be met

26th February 2019 By: African News Agency

 DA seeks confirmation from Steinhoff that investigation deadline will be met

The main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Tuesday it had asked retailer Steinhoff to confirm that a delayed report on forensic investigations undertaken by audit firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) would be completed by Thursday.

The PwC report was due at the end of 2018 but was delayed until the end of February.

Former Steinhoff CEO Markus Jooste resigned in December 2017 resigned after auditors refused to sign off on the company's results after unearthing accounting irregularities.

On Tuesday DA shadow minister of finance Alf Lees noted how millions of South Africans including pensioners and the Government Employees Pension Fund had lost much of their life savings in the Steinhoff debacle.

"These hard hit people and all South Africans urgently need to know the extent of the Steinhoff malfeasance," he said.

"It is now over a year since the bombshell exploded and Markus Jooste resigned from Steinhoff ... and has since apparently continued to live a life of luxury in South Africa," he added, noting that Jooste had still not been charged with any offence.

He urged the Steinhoff board to ensure that the PwC report was completed urgently and made available to the relevant authorities so that criminal action could be taken against those implicated .

The report must also be submitted to Parliament as soon as it was available, Lees added.