Steinheist': Doccie dives into biggest corporate scam in SA history'Showmax's original Steinheist' explores the biggest corporate scam in South African history. Here's what we know
by Alicia Naidoo
23-09-2022 13:20
in Entertainment
Steinheist' explores the biggest corporate scam in SA history. Image: Supplied.
Steinheist, a new true crime documentary series about the biggest corporate scam in South African history, is now streaming on Showmax, with new episodes every Thursday until 6 October.
--
NEW TRUE CRIME DOCCIE STEINHEIST' Steinheist is made by Idea Candy, the producers of Devilsdorp. The record-breaking Showmax Original that won Best Made for TV Documentary at the 2022 South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTAs).
Once billed as the Ikea of Africa, - Steinhoff employed over 130 000 people on over 40 brands across four continents. Steinhoff-owned companies every South African will know include giants like Ackermans, Incredible Connection, Morkels, Pennypinchers, PEP, Russells, Tekkie Town, and Timbercity.
On 5 December 2017, CEO Markus Jooste resigned amid an investigation into accounting irregularities, and Steinhoff's share price plunged by 90% in a week. This wiped over R200 billion off Johannesburg's stock exchange, the JSE and off ordinary South Africans' pensions and investments.
--
As News24's assistant editor, Pieter du Toit, author of The Stellenbosch Mafia, says in the first episode, You don't think that a company of that size and that repute can crash so quickly.
The documentary has been receiving raving reviews.
ALSO READ: Blood Psalms': Mandisa Nduna on shape-shifting misfits
WATCH THE TRAILER HERE
THE RELEASE OF STEINHEIST' COMES AFTER THE JSE DISQUALIFIED BEN LA GRANGE Steinheist releases on Showmax just over a month after the JSE disqualified Ben la Grange from holding the office of a director or officer of a listed company for 10 years, imposing two separate fines of R1 million each on the man who was Jooste's chief financial officer at Steinhoff.
--
The JSE claimed la Grange had processed a fictitious handwritten invoice handed to him by Jooste for R376 million ( 23.5 million).
Government corruption has been widely publicised in South Africa. As well as explored in the likes of the Rehad Desai and Mark Kaplan's SAFTA-winning How To Steal A Country documentary, also on Showmax. Steinheist changes the focus onto the impact of corruption in the private sector.
I think the media tends to focus on holding politicians to account, but very few people hold corporations to account, said Financial Mail editor Rob Rose in the first episode.
A lot of corporate leaders do things that are completely outrageous. But because so few people study it and understand it, they get away with a lot that politicians don't get away with. So I've always been drawn to the stories of people like Markus Jooste. For a journalist, this was the story of a lifetime.
So what kind of person can pull off what Gregory calls a hundred-billion-rand lie that everyone bought a lie that was built across over two decades ? All the answers are revealed in the documentary!
Steinheist' explores the biggest corporate scam in SA history. Image: Supplied. ALSO READ: Binge worthy: Five SAFTA-winning shows to stream on Showmax
Are you a potjiekos champion? Celebrate Heritage Day at Hollywoodbets Durbanville - and WIN!
Africa Stories
13/10/2026
The Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Mr Gayton McKenzie, invites suitably qu...
13/10/2026
The Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Mr Gayton McKenzie, invites members of ...
07/10/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) is pleased to announce the extensi...
02/10/2026
01 October 2026 | Johannesburg, South Africa - The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an entity of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC), is ...
01/10/2026
Johannesburg, South Africa, 30 September 2026 - The National Film and Video Foun...
23/09/2026
1. ABOUT THE PROGRAMME
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) invites applications from experienced producers who own or manage a South African product...
23/09/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) is pleased to announce the opening...
17/09/2026
The Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC), in partnership with the Nation...
16/09/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) invites eligible South African pro...
09/09/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) invites eligible Tier 1 and 2 South African production companies to submit proposals to serve as the Facilitating ...
05/09/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
18/08/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
15/08/2026
14 August 2026 | Johannesburg - The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), a...
14/08/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Ar...
08/08/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
28/07/2026
27 July 2026, Johannesburg - The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an a...
20/07/2026
The NFVF, an agency of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture, has released t...
09/07/2026
08 July 2026, Johannesburg - The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an a...
06/07/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
01/07/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) is pleased to announce that the ca...
10/06/2026
Production and Development Funding supports the creation of compelling, commercially viable, artistic and culturally relevant South African screen content. Deve...
09/06/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) is a statutory body mandated to spearhead the equitable growth and development of the South African film and video...
19/05/2026
Press Release
18 May 2026, Johannesburg South Africa has been selected as the...
24/04/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) is pleased to announce that the ca...
01/04/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) is pleased to announce that the ca...
26/03/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC), has been tasked with administering the Sixth Presi...
24/03/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) invites eligible Tier 1 and 2 South African production companies to submit proposals to serve as the Facilitating ...
15/03/2026
Johannesburg, 14 March 2026 - On 13 and 14 March 2026, the 19th Annual South Afr...
12/03/2026
Johannesburg, 11 March 2026 - The 19th Annual South African Film and Television ...
03/03/2026
Click here for isiXhosa version.
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) invites aspiring and emerging filmmakers from Matatiele and surrounding areas to...
17/02/2026
Johannesburg, 17 February 2026 - The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), ...
09/02/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sport, Arts, and Culture and custodian of the SAFTAs, is calling on all South Afri...
09/02/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
09/02/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) is pleased to announce that the call for training provider submissions is open. This funding aims to award grants ...
06/02/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
04/02/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) invites final-year animation students to participate in an exclusive creative showcase at the Annecy International...
02/02/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), in partnership with the French Institute of South Africa (IFAS), is calling for applications from experienced Sou...
29/01/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), in collaboration with a distribut...
28/01/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), in partnership with the Oudtshoorn Municipality, invites aspiring and emerging filmmakers to apply for the Sediba...
20/01/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
07/01/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), in collaboration with a distributor, is commissioning new micro-budget fiction feature films and invites eligible...
31/10/2025
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
30 October 2025
It is with great sadness that we mourn the passing of Segomotso Keorapetse, an award- winning South African television d...
29/10/2025
It's not the wonders of the world that make a place; it's the people. As...
07/10/2025
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
02/10/2025
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) is pleased to announce the opening...
Steinheist': Doccie dives into biggest corporate scam in SA history'Showmax's original Steinheist' explores the biggest corporate scam in South African history. Here's what we know 
