Vusi Khanyile resigns from Steinhoff Africa Retail board

Cape Town - Steinhoff Africa Retail (STAR) announced in a note to shareholders on Thursday that Vusi Khanyile has resigned as an independent non-executive director of the board with effect from 10 January 2018.

Khanyile is the executive chair of Thebe Investment Corporation, which he helped to set up in 1992. Former finance minister Nhlanhla Nene became an adviser for Thebe when he was axed by President Jacob Zuma in December 2016.

STAR comprises all the African assets of retailer Steinhoff. In the STAR stable are discount-value brands like Pep and Ackermans as well as speciality brands.

STAR furthermore announced that Daniël van der Merwe has been appointed as a member of the human resources and remuneration committee and Johann Bernard Cilliers as a member of the nominations committee - both with effect from 10 January 2018.

• READ: 'Another Steinhoff' rumour fuels property stock alarm on JSE

Steinhoff International said it raised R16bn by listing and placing 23.19% of its interests in STAR on the JSE. STAR officially listed on September 20 and issued 750 million new shares under a private placement in a book that was 4.8 times oversubscribed, raising an aggregate amount of R15.4bn, Steinhoff said in a note to shareholders at the time.

After the listing, STAR shares traded consistently above the listing price of R20.50 per shares. On Thursday by late afternoon the share price was R17.41.

Embattled Stellenbosch-headquartered Steinhoff was hit by an accounting scandal which is still growing. News broke on Monday that the European Central Bank (ECB) had sold its Steinhoff bonds.

Parliamentary hearings into Steinhoff are set to start in late January, according to Yunus Carrim, the chair of Parliament’s finance oversight committee.