The day Whitey Basson realised Markus Jooste was no good
Former Shoprite CEO Whitey Basson said Markus Jooste’s behaviour at a Wilgenhof reunion made him realise it was not a person he wanted to do business with.
Basson shared his view about the former Steinhoff chief executive during an interview with Mia Spies at the Toyota Stellenbosch Woordfees.
Basson and Jooste lived in the Wilgenhof residence while studying at the prestigious Stellenbosch University.
Although they lived in the Wilgenhof residence at different periods, it is a close-knit community with many events for former residents.
During one Wilgenhof reunion and fundraising event, Basson took note of Markus Jooste for the first time. They have not met before this event.
He said at this reunion, all the Wilgenhof sat in rows in a large hall at Paul Roos Gimnasium based on the years when they were at Stellenbosch University.
Basson and his business partner, former Shoprite chairman Christo Wiese, sat in the fourth row from the front.
During this event, there was a fundraiser where low-end paintings from a little-known artist were auctioned.
These paintings were not worth more than R1,000 each, and most former Wilgenhof residents at the reunion knew it.
“At these events, you will buy the R1,000 for R2,000. That means you have done your duty but did not show off with your wealth,” he said.
Instead of following this trend, Jooste bid much higher for the nearly worthless paintings, clearly trying to show off.
Basson asked Wiese who the guy was who was making the ridiculous bids, as he was clearly doing it for egotistical purposes. Wiese told him that it was Markus Jooste.
“From that day, we did not have a good relationship. I did not like that he focus on so many things other than the job he was paid to do,” Basson said.
“I always asked Christo Wiese whether Markus funded his opulent lifestyle with their money through Steinhoff.”
Whitey Basson opposed the deal between Steinhoff and Shoprite
Basson said he opposed the planned merger between Shoprite and Steinhoff due to his dislike for Jooste. He said he could not work with Jooste as chief executive.
Basson was nearly forced into the merger when Wiese wanted to put more of his assets under one roof.
Wiese’s plan was for Steinhoff to sell its African assets to Shoprite for a controlling stake in the grocery chain.
Steinhoff would have exchanged its shares for those of Shoprite’s two largest shareholders – Wiese and the Public Investment Corporation (PIC).
Basson did not like the deal. However, it was not Jooste’s personality which was the deciding factor. Instead, it was Steinhoff’s finances and poorly run shops.
Basson said he could not find any financial figures proving that Steinhoff was a good investment.
Another problem was poorly run shops, which did not have the same professionalism and quality as Shoprite’s stores.
“When I looked at the Steinhoff business, it was not something which I would have liked to be associated with,” he said.
“I was also very uncomfortable about the shoe business – Tekkie Town – which Steinhoff bought. I don’t like shoe businesses because I cannot remember one that has survived since I was young.”
Basson was successful in preventing the merger between Shoprite and Steinhoff. However, a new deal soon emerged.
Wiese and the PIC agreed to sell their Shoprite shares to Steinhoff, which gave Jooste’s company a 23.1% stake and 50.6% voting control in the retailer.
Basson said he could not tell anyone what they should do with their shares. “They can sell their shares to whomever they want to,” he said.
However, Basson told Wiese he could not sit on a board where Jooste, as the CEO of Steinhoff and the controlling shareholder, would call the shots.
The deal between Shoprite and Steinhoff ultimately failed because the two parties could not agree on the terms of the share exchange.
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