Steinhoff Africa Adds Second Director in Move Away From Parent

(Bloomberg) -- Steinhoff Africa Retail Ltd. has appointed a second independent non-executive director in as many weeks as the company works to sever ties with its troubled parent.

Wendy Luhabe joins Pieter Erasmus on the board of STAR, which has been looking at ways to disassociate itself from an accounting scandal that’s wiped more than 95 percent of the value off majority owner Steinhoff International Holdings NV. As well as hiring untainted non-executive directors, the owner of Pep stores in Africa said last month it plans to revert to the name Pepkor Holdings Ltd.

Luhabe is the co-founder of money manager Women Investment Portfolio Holdings Ltd. and an ex-chairwoman of the Industrial Development Corp. She’s also sat on several boards including Vodacom Group Ltd., Africa’s largest wireless carrier by market value.

STAR shares fell 1.1 percent to 16.61 rand as of 3:03 p.m. in Johannesburg. The Cape Town-based company has lost more than a third of its value since the Steinhoff scandal erupted in December.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ntando Thukwana in Johannesburg at nthukwana@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Gordon Bell at gbell16@bloomberg.net, John Bowker, Janice Kew

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