Before we go any further, let’s give it up for that image above, which comes from this Mail & Guardian article and is credited to John McCann.

John, you’ve done well.

The question of where Markus Jooste is hiding has been the subject of much discussion, and it’s not like he can fly under the radar with his picture splashed all over the place.

According to that same Mail & Guardian article, “Jooste is ‘hiding’ in plain sight”. Let’s find this wally:

A billionaire and an avid horse breeder based in Stellenbosch, he was often in the public eye — but he has seemingly gone to ground since the Steinhoff scandal broke on December 6 last year.

There have been rumours that he is hiding in Namibia or on a horse farm in Argentina, but the reality is less exotic.

“Mr Jooste is in the country,” was the brief emailed response from his Cape Town-based lawyer this week.

According to Cape locals he is “hiding” in plain sight.

Former Steinhoff chairperson and Stellenbosch resident Christo Wiese told the Mail & Guardian he had “not seen or heard” from Jooste since December 6 last year although he had heard he was around.

I would pay good money to be a fly on the wall when Wiese and Jooste bump into each other, given that the latter stuck a really expensive knife into the back of his former mentor.

Wiese is keeping his ear to the ground on that front:

“People occasionally tell me they saw him at a restaurant. Four or five weeks ago someone said they had seen him in Hermanus with friends.

“Certainly, I have not seen him,” said Wiese, one of the biggest losers in the saga, with much of his wealth tied up in Steinhoff and an estimated personal loss of R50-billion. “One of my relatives saw him at one place and walked straight out.”

But Jooste had not been seen at the places he used to frequent and had not been near the farm he shares with Steinhoff executives Danie van der Merwe and Frikkie Nel, Wiese said.

Wiese was fairly sure Jooste was in the Cape. “I have no reason to believe anything else … but with him [Jooste] you just don’t know.”

Someone snap a picture and send it our way, please. There is wine and beer and gin in it for you.

Maybe even a hug, but we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. Let’s just start with the drink.

Extra points if you get Berdine Odendaal in the mix.

He’s certainly been keeping a low profile around Stellies:

A prominent Stellenbosch local, who lost money invested in Steinhoff and also did not want to be named, said Jooste had not shown his face in the town where many investors and former friends who had been caught up in the Steinhoff saga live. “They would hunt him down,” the source said.

With Parliament having subpoenaed Jooste, after he declined to appear before the standing committee on finance, we might see him flushed out of hiding sooner rather than later.

Maybe they should ask the founder of Tekkie Town, who seems to bump into him rather regularly?

There are still several investigations on the go concerning Jooste, but for now he seems to have his ‘Where’s Wally?’ act on point.

[source:mg]