Markus Jooste dead by apparent suicide

HERMANUS – Sources said Jooste and former Steinhoff company secretary and head of legal Stéhan Grobler were told on Wednesday that they had to hand themselves over to the Hawks on Thursday.

Police confirmed a suicide in Hermanus at around between 14:40 and 15:20 on Thursday but did not name Jooste. SAPS were called out to a scene at a beach in Hermanus, where a 63-year-old man suffered a gunshot wound to the head, said Lt-Col Malcolm Pojie.

“He was still alive at the time, he was transported to the hospital, and he succumbed a few minutes after arrival at the hospital.”

On Wednesday, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) fined Jooste R475 million after it found that he and Steinhoff’s former European finance chief, Dirk Schreiber, were responsible for publishing deceptive statements about Steinhoff International’s financial position between 2014 and 2017.

This meant investors based their decision on false information, which resulted in hundreds of billions of rand in losses, also by pension funds.

Jooste resigned from Steinhoff at the end of 2017, triggering a near-collapse that wiped out R200 billion in pension fund money and other investments as investors realised its financial statements were manipulated.