Cape Town – Former Springbok, Western Province and Lions rugby player Earl Rose appeared briefly in the Stellenbosch Magistrate's Court on Monday over the alleged theft of golf clubs.
Rose‚ 35‚ has been accused of stealing golf clubs from the bags of Stellenbosch Golf Club members last week, Netwerk24 reported. The case was postponed until February 18 for further investigation.
This comes after an incident captured on CCTV of a man believed to be Rose, who wore a peak cap, and an unidentified woman leaving through the front door of the Stellenbosch Golf Club at around lunchtime last Wednesday. Rose handed himself over to police on the weekend and was released on bail.
Stellenbosch Golf Club general manager Chris van der Merwe confirmed to TimesLive that the club and two members of the club had laid a complaint of theft against Rose.
“He has returned the alleged stolen clubs but the matter will resume in court next month‚” Van der Merwe said.
News24 reported that Rose and the woman were allegedly carrying clubs believed to belong to Grant Gainsford and his friend, Louis Swanepoel. Rose reportedly sells golf clubs on Facebook.
A rugby fan, Gainsford said he recognised the man who he believes stole his R7 000 putter, initially thinking it was a "prank" when he discovered on the tee that his putter was missing. They continued their game and reported the incident to the club, requesting an investigation.
Footage was retrieved which showed a woman removing a club from a golf bag before quickly moving out of the camera's view as a man followed behind her. CCTV captured golf clubs being removed from two different bags last Wednesday.
Stellenbosch Golf Club general manager Chris van der Merwe said the security guard at the main entrance identified the driver who dropped off the clubs on Thursday as "the same person he saw (the day before)". The man claimed he "picked it up" and wanted to return it.