Reserve Bank faces pressure to recover billions lost in Steinhoff scandal

THE South African Reserve Bank (SARB) remains in the spotlight as the Standing Committee on Finance continues its investigation into the billions in retirement funds allegedly siphoned off during the Steinhoff saga.

Committee Chairperson Joe Maswanganyi has made it clear that the SARB is not absolved of its responsibility and must ensure the recovery of funds belonging to workers.

Committee Chairperson, Joe Maswanganyi said the Steinhoff investigations have not been shelved by the committee which still awaits supplementary information from the SARB on progress with tracing the money trail and facilitating its repayment.

“The Steinhoff matter has never been taken off the agenda. The money owed to the state must be paid back, it is workers money that has to be recovered. We have been monitoring the matter from even the 6th Parliament,” Maswanganyi said.

“We are still awaiting reports on the matter from the PIC, the Reserve Bank and the legal teams that have been running with the investigations. We are aware of all the details that have been provided before and we do not want to be held down by all that. We have inherited the matter and we will ensure that the money is paid back.”

The SARB came under the spotlight in the Steinhoff saga after it initiated disciplinary action against its former divisional head of the financial surveillance department, Raymond Paola, for allegedly facilitating questionable facilitation of billions of rand for Steinhoff out of South Africa via 16 exchange control applications, contravening a litany of the bank’s rules governing cross-border transactions between 2012 and 2017.

The SARB’s preliminary investigation had been focused on Steinhoff’s risk manager, Chris Grové, another former SARB employee, when documents, including emails suggested Grové was the point man between Steinhoff and SARB who worked closely with Paola.

The bank has maintained stolid silence on the matter since and has declined to answer questions, among others, on: whom Paola’s executives were in this Steinhoff saga; if SARB regulator controls had been fixed in the face of these alleged exchange control violations with Paola the last decision-maker at SARB, and if more senior people other than Paola were aware of the transactions.

“We have pursued the matter with the SARB even the last time we met, we are waiting for supplementary information. It has been intermittent yes, but we have not called it off. Our understanding is that it is also being pursued by the law enforcement agencies,” Maswanganyi said.

He said the recent revelation of lack of transparency and transformation by the banking sector at the joint sitting of the finance committees last week had strengthened the case for banks to indicate, even before a Summit, their commitment towards black empowerment, which had ownership components rather than black directors merely being to tick B-BBEE policies.

“The new focus is on transformation in which ownership of the banks will be explained to us, we want to see what the participation of blacks in the sector is, if the empowerment is adequate and meaningful rather than an exercise to tick the boxes,” he said.

“We want to know about access to credit, why are black women and youth not in important roles of procurement, ownership rather than just employment. We still have to have consultations with other sectors such as asset managers, insurers and others then we shall report to Parliament.”

In ongoing investigation and litigation of the Steinhoff matter, the SARB in October seized more than R67 million in assets belonging to former Steinhoff executive, Stephanus (or Stéhan) Grobler.

In gazetted forfeiture notices, the SARB seized more than R66m in shares and loan accounts as declared by Grobler in February 2020.

BUSINESS REPORT