The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) on Monday welcomed the South African Reserve Bank’s (SARB) seizure of R67 million from Stéhan Grobler, the former legal head of Steinhoff.
The bank’s deputy governor, Fundi Tshazibana, published the forfeiture notices in the Government Gazette on Friday.
“This is a welcome and long overdue progressive step forward to recovering workers' funds stolen during the biggest financial heist in South African history,” the trade union’s Parliamentary Coordinator Matthew Parks said in a statement.
Grobler’s court proceedings have been postponed to February to allow for further investigation by the National Prosecuting Authority.
Steinhoff's share price collapsed on December 5, 2017, with the group losing 95% of its market value, following revelations of significant accounting irregularities in the group.
Former CEO Marcus Jooste, once considered one of the richest men in Africa, allegedly committed suicide on March 21, a day before he was scheduled to hand himself over to law enforcement officers.
Other Steinhoff directors charged so far are the former head of finance in Europe Dirk Schreiber and Siegmar Schmidt, both of whom have accounting violations among their main charges.
This month, Steinhoff’s former chief financial officer, Ben la Grange, was sentenced to 10 years in prison, five of which were suspended, after pleading guilty to one charge of fraud in the Steinhoff saga.
Grobler handed himself over to the Hawks on March 22, a day after Jooste’s suicide. The seizure of assets from Grobler followed similar important seizures of R60m in cash and property from the late CEO of Steinhoff, and from Markus Jooste's reported girlfriend.
Grobler has been charged with racketeering, fraud, the manipulation of financial statements, and failing to report fraudulent activities.
The SARB seized more than R66m in shares and loan accounts. The shares were in Suez Beleggings, Steff Grobler Beherende, and Keurview Aandeleblok. The loan accounts were Suez Beleggings and Elmaretch Engineering Works.
The trade union said that while it appreciated these seizures of ill-gotten gains, Cosatu and workers had been "deeply frustrated by the slaps-on-the-wrist, pitiful sentences secured to date."
Parks said that it was time that justice was seen to be served and the guilty sent to long terms in prison and money stolen from workers' pension funds returned to their rightful owners.
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