Road tests 21.6.2019 08:58 am

Changan Star: Going right back to basics

I thought the electronic “jamming” of car locks by thieves was an urban legend – until it happened to me. When in Cape Town recently, I stopped a Toyota Corolla hire car next to a main road in Wynberg, locked it with the electronic key fob and rushed into a cafe to buy a cold drink.

When I came out about 70 seconds later, the thieves had the boot open and my luggage on the ground. They ran away, and I was too old to give chase. Amazingly, nothing was lost, but it made me think. These thieves will progress from theft out of cars to car theft, car hijacking, drug trafficking and human trafficking. Ultimately, reaching the top of the totem pole for local career criminals, they might even become politicians. Shoot them now, I say, while there is still time.