Former Steinhoff CEO Markus Jooste stunned investors in Johannesburg stocks when his resignation on the back of an investigation into financial irregularities pushed the Steinhoff share into a nose-dive in 2017. The multinational retailer has been teetering on the brink of collapse ever since, with a huge effort in the various markets in which it operates to keep it afloat as investigators unravel a complex web of deals designed to deceive creditors and other stakeholders. The Steinhoff stock was widely held in portfolios. It has emerged that Jooste has been causing waves in the fine-art market too, after he dumped paintings by Jacob Hendrik Pierneef in an apparent effort to source funds. – Jackie Cameron

Steinhoff ex-CEO's art sale hit price of top South Africa painter

By Loni Prinsloo and John Bowker

(Bloomberg) – A mass sale of art by former Steinhoff International Chief Executive Officer Markus Jooste caused a slump in the price of paintings by famed South African artist Jacob Hendrik Pierneef, according to people familiar with the matter.

Jooste quit as head of Steinhoff the day the global retailer reported accounting irregularities in late 2017, and has since been identified by the retailer as the chief architect of various financial dealings that triggered the company's near collapse. He's the subject of an R850m ($58m) claim for damages by Steinhoff, among other lawsuits, though hasn't been charged and denies wrongdoing.

A locally known art collector, Jooste has been selling various works through private dealers to raise funds, said the people, who asked not to be named as the transactions aren't public. He owned a number of works by Pierneef, a prolific landscape painter who died in 1957 and remains a staple of auction houses in Johannesburg and Cape Town, they said.

Jooste and his lawyer, Callie Albertyn, didn't respond to requests for comment.