Steinhoff's former Chief Executive Markus Jooste appears in parliament to face a panel investigating an accounting scandal that rocked the retailer in Cape Town, South Africa, September 5, 2018. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - Steinhoff's SNHJ.J former chief executive Markus Jooste told a parliamentary inquiry his main mistake during his tenure as the retailer battled an accounting scandal was agreeing to a joint venture with Austrian businessman Andreas Seifert.

Jooste said in his testimony that Steinhoff probably grew too quickly.

In April, the retailer agreed to sell a 50 percent stake in German furniture chain POCO to Seifert, settling a German lawsuit over ownership of the business.

Seifert claimed half-ownership of POCO, while Steinhoff had said he had to be bought out due to unspecified actions by his company, Seifert Enterprises.