LETTER: Red flags ignored

I agree with everything Stuart Theobald said in his column (“Jooste’s deeds exact a heavy toll on corporate SA”, March 25). The issue is what is not being said.

There were so many warning signs, all the way back in 2009, as mentioned in other articles on Markus Jooste, when Whitey Basson put the brakes on the Shoprite merger.

While the wheels of justice do grind terribly slowly in SA, there were enough warnings long before the crash that SA business (banks, colleagues, auditors, investors) ignored: the red flags of too much money in horses, cars, lifestyle and company registration jurisdiction.

This should have been stopped by ethical business intervention by banks, auditors and regulators long before the crash. Where were the due diligence officers of the Public Investment Corporation and pension funds looking after their investments?

History was repeating itself — why can we not stop this before it happens? Arthur Brown, Jacob Zuma, Health & Racquet, African Bank, Masterbond, the failures of corporate governance and the ongoing scandals relating to qualifications.

It is fine to bemoan the slow wheels of justice, but why are we relying on the justice system? The confidence of foreign investors should surely be gained with good governance long before the wheels of justice need to start grinding away.

Jennifer van den Dool
Via BusinessLIVE

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