Former Steinhoff CEO Markus Jooste and former Chief Financial Officer Ben La Grange will be subpoenaed to appear before Parliament’s Standing Committee on Finance next Wednesday.
This comes after National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete authorised a summons that was requested by the committee, following unsuccessful attempts to have them appear before the committee.
Mbete has invoked Section 56 of the Constitution, which empowers Parliament to summon any person or organ of state to give evidence before it.
Parliament says Jooste and la Grange will be subpoenaed to give evidence before the committee.
The institution says Mbete’s decision to grant the summons comes after she obtained a legal opinion.
Parliament says Mbete has now given the committee the thumbs to continue conducting their inquiry into the nature, causes and consequences of what parliament calls, the sudden collapse of Steinhoff’s share value.
It says this resulted in the loss of billions of investor and pension funds but also posed a threat to thousands of jobs in South Africa and abroad.
Parliament’s spokesperson Moloto Mothapo says the inquiry is not meant to be a criminal or civil investigation into Steinhoff or its employees.
Jooste and la Grange will be expected to appear before a joint hearing by committees on Finance as well as Public Service and Administration on Tuesday next week.
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