Rebecca Jackman
A RETIRED teacher from Gugulethu is trying every avenue to find the men who, in broad daylight, towed away the Mercedes-Benz that cost her almost a third of her pension payout from 42 years of employment.
Nokuzola Gobile, 65, has questioned neighbours, gone to the police and checked security footage at a nearby mall, where she found clip of the car being towed on August 27 – but is no closer to identifying the culprits.
The car was not yet insured and Gobile had not registered it in her name because she’d had problems from the day she bought the navy blue Mercedes-Benz C200 through Gumtree in October.
Her son paid for it in Johannesburg and brought it to Cape Town.
She paid R81 000 for the car and ploughed a further R12 000 into repairs.
“And now that it’s fixed, it gets stolen,” Gobile said.
She was out when the car was stolen on August 27 shortly before 2pm from the driveway of her home and the daycare centre she runs. Gobile said she had lived in the same home since 1961 and this was the first time she had experienced crime.
When she returned, her car was no longer there. Before reporting the incident to police, she consulted neighbours who informed her that they had seen the car being towed by three men.
“I thought they were doing a legal thing. They were so calm about it,” said a neighbour who asked not to be named.
When Gobile later asked her neighbour if they had seen anything, she was informed that they thought it was just being towed for repairs.
“I was so shocked. I didn’t think they were stealing the car,” said the neighbour.
Gobile said she reported the theft to the police, but she has not heard anything from them.
“I’ve heard nothing, no news,” she said, adding that she is incredibly frustrated and does not know what else she can do. “I feel like I’m making all the effort.”
She was able to retrieve footage from Gugulethu Mall of her car being taken away by a white tow truck. From the direction the car was travelling in she managed to find three cameras that could have captured which direction it continued in. But she does not know if police have looked at those cameras.
A security official at the Gugulethu Mall said no investigating officer had approached their office for the footage they have.
Gobile says she can’t believe that someone could take what belongs to her. “I want to know why they took away my car,” she said.
Police spokesman captain FC Van Wyk said there are no new developments to report in the case. “No arrest has been made as yet. Investigation continues,” he said.