Snyman-Van Deventer, E.De Kock, Hyla Magdalena2025-04-102025-04-102023http://hdl.handle.net/11660/13009Thesis (LL.D.(Laws))--University of the Free State, 2023This research will evaluate the corporate governance practices of Steinhoff International Holdings N.V. from December 2017, when the scandal started, until 30 April 2023. The assessment contains several newspaper articles that reflected the timeline of the events as they unfolded. The annual reports of Steinhoff are the most important documents that were produced by the company reflecting the corporate governance policy and practices during a specific financial year. The research aims to examine the role of corporate governance measures in South African company law to prevent future corporate collapses. The failure of Steinhoff International N.V.¹ ("Steinhoff") will serve as a case study to indicate the success or failure of corporate governance measures in South Africa.This study investigates corporate governance and the board of directors’ responsibilities in South African companies with specific reference to Steinhoff to investigate whether the directors of Steinhoff fulfilled these responsibilities. Therefore, the thesis's primary objective is to investigate and evaluate corporate governance measures and interventions in order to determine why the measures do not prevent corporate collapses. Secondly, the thesis aims to evaluate legislation and other measures in South Africa, Germany, Australia and the United States of America to make recommendations for preventing future corporate catastrophes. The global corporate governance failures were severe. It seems as if fraud and corruption may be the major sources of these corporate collapses. In most instances, there is either the active involvement of the directors and managers in these fraudulent or corrupt practices, or there is either a negligent or even intentional failure to act by directors to prevent these activities. The study shows that the prevention of corporate failure remains a complex endeavour. Legislation, codes of conduct, structures, and processes cannot resolve all problems on their own. The ethical and responsible behaviour of company directors, managers, and officers is crucial. Regardless of the outcome of any legal proceedings, the collapse of Steinhoff demonstrates the crucial role of the companies’ board, company secretary, auditors, directors, shareholders, and other stakeholders in assuring compliance with all applicable legislation and it operates with integrity and transparency. I believe that, similar to Enron, Steinhoff will become the new benchmark for corporate governance failures.enCorporate governanceCorporate collapseSteinhoff collapseCompanies Act 71 of 2008King reportsThesisUniversity of the Free State