COSATU calls for the Steinhoff looters to be prosecuted for stealing and mismanaging workers retirement savings
4 December 2018
The Congress of South African Trade Unions has learned with disgust that GEPF’s R4, 3 billion investments in Steinhoff has been written off as worthless. This is happening because the so called “accounting scandal” by the Steinhoff fraudsters and criminals wiped off over R200bn of the company’s value.
This means that workers have lost a portion of their retirement savings, while these criminals are not being held accountable. What is more disturbing is the indifference of law enforcement agencies that are not willing to hold the Steinhoff criminals accountable. Its unacceptable for these mostly white criminals to be allowed to gamble with workers savings, loot the money without any consequences or accountability. The furore and indignation that has surrounded mostly black criminals that have looted companies like VBS is absent when it comes to white looters and criminals.
The federation is reiterating its call for the prosecution of the Steinhoff criminals and looters that have been allowed to hide and sell their ill-gotten gains with impunity.
The biggest problem we currently face as a country is that we are not consistent in our fight against corruption. If we are going to fight corruption successfully we cannot afford to condemn some corrupt actions and make excuses for others. Our propensity to treat public and private sector corruption differently is a big problem for this country.