An Alex man (22) was sentenced to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to theft from a neighbour.
John Tladi of 8th Avenue was sentenced for the theft of a BMW 740 series gearbox from Bongani Jali, a mechanic.
The court heard that Jali had seen the gearbox in the boot of a customer’s car in their yard on 19 July 2014. When he checked for the gearbox on 23 July, it was gone. Another neighbour informed him that he had seen Tladi and a friend dragging a plastic bag from the yard with something heavy inside.
Jali reported the theft to the police, whose investigation led to a nearby scrapyard in Kew where the 53kg gearbox worth thousands of rands was found. The scrapyard owner is said to have confirmed buying the gearbox from Tladi for R304. Tladi’s friend, who turned State witness, also confirmed the crime, resulting in Tladi’s arrest.
