Why Ingrid Jooste was playing golf when her husband Markus Jooste shot himself. Image: Pexels
As the world grapples with the news of Markus Jooste’s suicide last week and questions arise regarding who else may be implicated in the Steinhoff scandal, one glaring fact stood out to me: why did Ingrid Jooste choose to join her friends for a game of golf on the same day that the Hawks were scheduled to arrest him, and just 24 hours after her husband was fined R475 million by the FSCA?
I had imagined that would cause her embarrassment, prompting her to retreat from public view.
But nope - she headed out for a game of golf with her friends, while he headed down to the beach and killed himself.
My initial reaction was one of confusion — why would she have acted this way?
After enduring years of the public spectacle of her husband's well-known infidelities and the humiliation caused by his dishonesty and betrayal, it's understandable that she might have reacted as she did.
Ingrid Jooste, 20 years younger than her husband, is beautiful, intelligent, and dignified — the epitome of a corporate wife.
For years, she had to contend with whispers within her inner circles in Stellenbosch and Hermanus about her husband's affairs, demonstrating his lack of moral principles. He was seen in public with a string of other women while she stayed at home raising their three young children.
One can only imagine the humiliation she must have experienced when the media exposed stories of Markus Jooste lavishing gifts on his mistresses and parading them around publicly, including Berdene Odendaal, a blonde polo player whom he flew around in helicopters.
In 2017, Odendaal owned 11 luxury properties (financed by Markus Jooste), each valued at around R3.3m, while Ingrid owned only one townhouse in Stellenbosch, valued at a mere R2.7m.
Markus Jooste's behaviour, both in his marriage and in business, suggests that deceit and dishonesty were integral parts of his personality.
Perhaps, as a woman, Ingrid Jooste had simply reached her breaking point — pushed to the brink of "not my monkey, not my circus“.
While she will undoubtedly grieve and maintain her dignity, perhaps her future as a widow looks brighter, and she may find a partner who will cherish and respect her, unlike Markus Jooste.
IOL Lifestyle