WATCH: Former Bok capt Jean de Villiers nails thief, ‘plakkies and all’

Former Springbok captain and now television pundit, Jean de Villiers, reportedly chased down and caught an alleged shop-lifter in Paarl, “plakkies and all”.

Screenshots of surveillance footage were shared on social media, showing De Villiers chasing after a thief in Paarl a few days ago.

Watch: De Villiers caught thief

Here is proof that @JeandeVilliers1 can come out of retirement! pic.twitter.com/Vkcc7dS7e9

— thevillageguy (@thevillageguy1) February 8, 2023

One netizen succinctly captioned it: “Springbok legend Jean de Villiers chasing a shoplifter and taking him back to the store. Who needs SA Police Service?”

Plakkies and all

In response, someone remarked: “Nogal met sy plakkies”. (Translation: Even in his flip-flops).

The former Springbok thought the man acted suspiciously and decided to keep an eye on him. The thief is believed to have stuffed sweets into his pockets before leaving the shop.

De Villiers, 41, then allegedly gave chase, caught the thief outside The Boer & Butcher on 23 January, and took him back to the store owner.

ALSO READ: ‘Winning tournaments is your measure of success,’ De Villiers tells Stormers

De Villiers said he called out to the guy, who started running. He explains: “I just said to myself ‘I must also run now and I chased him across the road towards Home Affairs”.

He joked: “With my slops and sunglasses coming off.”

As reported by SA Rugby Mag, De Villiers was able to catch the thief when the man bumped into someone queueing at Home Affairs.

‘Very grateful’

Speaking to the media, store owner Edu Hanekom said he was “very grateful” for De Villiers’ swift response, adding: “It was quite a thing when a former Springbok rugby captain arrived with the thief,” Hanekom said.