The South African Reserve Bank has ordered the forfeiture of assets worth nearly R11 million belonging to former Steinhoff executive Chris Grové, a former senior Reserve Bank exchange control official who later became the retailer’s liaison with the central bank.
A notice published in the Government Gazette on 23 June 2026 declares the forfeiture of Grové’s assets previously attached under the Exchange Control Regulations. They include R1 080 043.51 in an Investec fixed-deposit account, a residential property at Val de Vie in Paarl with a last-known municipal value of R8.725m, a storage unit at Val de Vie valued at R360 000, a 2019 Toyota Fortuner valued at R504 000, a 2014 BMW 3 Series valued at R140 000, a 2015 Toyota Auris valued at R160 000, and a Jurgens trailer of unknown value.
The cash will be paid into the National Revenue Fund, while the remaining assets will be realised by the Reserve Bank and the proceeds likewise deposited into the Fund.
The Grové matter fits into a broader pattern of SARB enforcement against former Steinhoff executives, associates, and successor entities.
Before joining Steinhoff in 2007, Grové spent almost three decades in the Reserve Bank’s exchange control department, rising from clerk to deputy general manager. He took early retirement to join Steinhoff Africa Holdings in 2007, where he was responsible for liaising with the Reserve Bank on exchange control matters and oversaw the group’s risk management, insurance, and advisory functions. He retired on medical grounds in 2019.
The forfeiture follows years of litigation over the Reserve Bank’s October 2021 decision to attach Grové’s assets. He challenged that decision in the High Court in Pretoria, arguing, among other things, that the SARB had misapplied the Exchange Control Regulations, lacked reasonable grounds for the attachment, and had wrongly implicated him in alleged contraventions.
In a judgment delivered in October 2025, Acting Judge Khashane Manamela dismissed the review application with costs. The Court held that the SARB’s functionaries had reasonable grounds for the attachment and blocking orders and had acted in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Exchange Control Regulations.
Two strands in the SARB’s case
The SARB’s case against Grové rested on two distinct issues.
The first related to the 2017 listing of Steinhoff Africa Retail (STAR) on the JSE. Before approving the proposed listing, the Reserve Bank’s Financial Surveillance Department (FinSurv) imposed a condition that no proceeds from the listing could be transferred abroad without its prior approval.
The High Court recorded that, despite that condition, roughly R4.7 billion was transferred offshore as a dividend before approval had been obtained. Grové later applied to FinSurv for approval on behalf of Steinhoff, but it was common cause that he did so after the fact, and he did not disclose that the first tranche had already left South Africa.
The second strand concerned what SARB described as offshore remuneration. According to the judgment, the Reserve Bank alleged that Grové had received about €149 000 abroad without the required exchange-control approval. Grové disputed that this amounted to a contravention, saying the payments were for services rendered offshore under a separate consultancy arrangement. But the Court held that the SARB had reasonable grounds to suspect contraventions for the purpose of the attachment and blocking decisions.
Although the High Court did not decide a criminal case against Grové, it upheld the lawfulness of the SARB’s administrative action under the exchange-control regime. That opened the way for the Reserve Bank to proceed from attachment and blocking to formal forfeiture, now confirmed in the Gazette notice.
Latest step in Steinhoff enforcement trail
The Grové forfeiture adds another chapter to the Reserve Bank’s use of exchange-control law in the Steinhoff fallout.
In April 2024, Moonstone reported on the forfeiture of cash and property belonging to Berdine Odendaal, whose case was described as a notable precedent in the use of exchange-control regulations against assets allegedly linked to Steinhoff-related illicit flows.
In October 2024, SARB seized more than R67m from former Steinhoff executive Stéhan Grobler. In October 2025, it forfeited vehicles and personal effects from Markus Jooste’s estate.
Moonstone has also reported on the SARB’s efforts against Ibex, formerly Steinhoff, including the forfeiture dispute over R6.3bn, the freezing and later partial release of funds linked to Pepkor share sales, and the eventual settlement between the central bank and the group.
