Basson and Jooste lived in the Wilgenhof residence while studying at the prestigious Stellenbosch University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although they lived in the Wilgenhof residence at different periods, it is a close-knit community with many events for former residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During one Wilgenhof reunion and fundraising event, Basson took note of Markus Jooste for the first time. They have not met before this event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Basson and his business partner, former Shoprite chairman Christo Wiese, sat in the fourth row from the front.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During this event, there was a fundraiser where low-end paintings from a little-known artist were auctioned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These paintings were not worth more than R1,000 each, and most former Wilgenhof residents at the reunion knew it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAt 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead of following this trend, Jooste bid much higher for the nearly worthless paintings, clearly trying to show off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFrom 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,\u201d Basson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI always asked Christo Wiese whether Markus funded his opulent lifestyle with their money through Steinhoff.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whitey Basson opposed the deal between Steinhoff and Shoprite<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Markus-Jooste-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nBasson 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Basson was nearly forced into the merger when Wiese wanted to put more of his assets under one roof.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wiese\u2019s plan was for Steinhoff to sell its African assets to Shoprite for a controlling stake in the grocery chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Steinhoff would have exchanged its shares for those of Shoprite\u2019s two largest shareholders \u2013 Wiese and the Public Investment Corporation (PIC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Basson did not like the deal. However, it was not Jooste\u2019s personality which was the deciding factor. Instead, it was Steinhoff\u2019s finances and poorly run shops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Basson said he could not find any financial figures proving that Steinhoff was a good investment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another problem was poorly run shops, which did not have the same professionalism and quality as Shoprite\u2019s stores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen I looked at the Steinhoff business, it was not something which I would have liked to be associated with,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was also very uncomfortable about the shoe business \u2013 Tekkie Town \u2013 which Steinhoff bought. I don\u2019t like shoe businesses because I cannot remember one that has survived since I was young.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Basson was successful in preventing the merger between Shoprite and Steinhoff. However, a new deal soon emerged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wiese and the PIC agreed to sell their Shoprite shares to Steinhoff, which gave Jooste\u2019s company a 23.1% stake and 50.6% voting control in the retailer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Basson said he could not tell anyone what they should do with their shares. \u201cThey can sell their shares to whomever they want to,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The deal between Shoprite and Steinhoff ultimately failed because the two parties could not agree on the terms of the share exchange.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Former Shoprite CEO Whitey Basson said Markus Jooste\u2019s behaviour at a Wilgenhof reunion made him realise it was not a person he wanted to do business with.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":812630,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[4137,7520,11059,20403],"class_list":["post-840246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-christo-wiese","tag-shoprite","tag-steinhoff","tag-whitey-basson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=840246"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840246\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":840247,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840246\/revisions\/840247"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/812630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=840246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=840246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=840246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nBasson 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Basson was nearly forced into the merger when Wiese wanted to put more of his assets under one roof.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wiese\u2019s plan was for Steinhoff to sell its African assets to Shoprite for a controlling stake in the grocery chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Steinhoff would have exchanged its shares for those of Shoprite\u2019s two largest shareholders \u2013 Wiese and the Public Investment Corporation (PIC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Basson did not like the deal. However, it was not Jooste\u2019s personality which was the deciding factor. Instead, it was Steinhoff\u2019s finances and poorly run shops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Basson said he could not find any financial figures proving that Steinhoff was a good investment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another problem was poorly run shops, which did not have the same professionalism and quality as Shoprite\u2019s stores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen I looked at the Steinhoff business, it was not something which I would have liked to be associated with,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was also very uncomfortable about the shoe business \u2013 Tekkie Town \u2013 which Steinhoff bought. I don\u2019t like shoe businesses because I cannot remember one that has survived since I was young.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Basson was successful in preventing the merger between Shoprite and Steinhoff. However, a new deal soon emerged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wiese and the PIC agreed to sell their Shoprite shares to Steinhoff, which gave Jooste\u2019s company a 23.1% stake and 50.6% voting control in the retailer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Basson said he could not tell anyone what they should do with their shares. \u201cThey can sell their shares to whomever they want to,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The deal between Shoprite and Steinhoff ultimately failed because the two parties could not agree on the terms of the share exchange.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Former Shoprite CEO Whitey Basson said Markus Jooste\u2019s behaviour at a Wilgenhof reunion made him realise it was not a person he wanted to do business with.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":812630,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[4137,7520,11059,20403],"class_list":["post-840246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-christo-wiese","tag-shoprite","tag-steinhoff","tag-whitey-basson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=840246"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840246\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":840247,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840246\/revisions\/840247"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/812630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=840246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=840246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=840246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}