The Markus Jooste financial meltdown is hitting virtually every industry in South Africa and most especially sports with Jooste linked sponsorships in rugby and horseracing.

Now the global stock meltdown of the Steinhoff brand and shares after the Jooste announcement has left horseracing reeling as Mayfair Speculators, his horseracing arm, comes under fire from the Public Servants Association.

They made the following statement on Friday. "According to the PSA’s information, Mr Jooste owns the favourites for the race. For upcoming races Mr Jooste could be collecting stake monies of as much as R5-million, while under his management Steinhoff has lost billions in investments."

This statement was in reference to the Sun Met, the flagship race in Cape Town and sponsored by Sun International, a second year sponsor of the former J&B Met. Publicity they didn't need and racing certainly didn't  either after being hit hard by the current economic situation in South Africa.  Tote turnovers are declining and the gambling industry as a whole feeling the pinch. 

"The PSA, as custodian of public servants’ pensions, cannot allow Mr Jooste to continue making millions until an investigation into the irregularities has been completed,"  the statement read.

The Jooste racing brand, Mayfair Speculators, owns an uncounted number of South African and internationally based thoroughbreds. The number is large enough to make him the single biggest investor in the horse racing and breeding population. He also has significant stakes in the Cape Thoroughbred Sales company and Klawervlei Stud, South Africa's champion breeders. Jooste also has significant shares in Phumelela Gaming and Leisure Limited.

His horses are based with a variety of trainers in South Africa. These include the leading lights of Mike De Kock, Sean Tarry, Joey Ramsden and Brett Crawford amongst many more.

The value of the impact in one of South Africa's most significant stock crash was summed up by Magda Wierzycka, CEO at Sygnia asset management, "this was as close to a corporate-structured Ponzi scheme as one can get."

Brace yourself horseracing, there's likely more to come.

Edict of Nantes pictured, the current 2nd favourite for the Sun Met.