Good Samaritans nab thief, hand back stolen goods

A DURBAN North resident has praised the actions of two men who recovered her wallet and handed back her valuables minutes after they were stolen. Theresa Hoogewerf was shopping at Kensington Square when the wallet was stolen from her. The thief, who tried to make a swift getaway was apprehended and stopped by Andrew Ngubane, a taxi rank manager on Adelaide Thambo Drive (Kensington) and a fellow resident, Ernest Ndlovu.

The men not only recovered the stolen wallet but they also handed over the suspect to the Durban North SAPS.

“I was only in the shop for about 15 minutes and I was walking towards the till when I realised my wallet was missing. I said to the teller I hope my wallet is in my car and it was then that I noticed a few missed calls on my phone and I happened to pick up the phone and began speaking to Mr Ngubane, who was the rank manager at Kensington.

“He told me he had my wallet and the thief must have pulled it out of my bag when my back was turned to my shopping trolley while taking an item off a shelf. He met me outside the centre and told me my wallet and asked me to check if everything was still in it. As I unzipped the wallet, I realised the money had been taken, and the thief handed my money back to me. He also didn’t realise there was a R1 000 tucked away in the wallet and hadn’t taken that either.

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“I’m forever indebted to these two men who are my guardian angels. I was praying to Saint Anthony (the Patron saint of lost things) when my wallet had been stolen and I was so happy that they managed to catch the thief and recover my valuables. There was also a chain with a little angel clipped to my purse that had sentimental value to me. It was given to me by a member of our parish who was celebrating her 90th birthday and I was amazed the thief hadn’t taken that off,” she said.

When Northglen News met with Hoogewerf last week, she rewarded her heroes with a cash incentive.

Andrew Ngubane, said the thief’s actions led him to be suspicious.

“He ran across the road and jumped into the back of an empty taxi which immediately I found suspicious. He then tried to hand me the money for the trip and that’s when I noticed the purse. I said let me see that purse and when I opened it I discovered a photo of Mrs Hoogewerf’s granddaughter. We immediately detained him and Ernest called the number on one of the post office receipts found in the wallet,” he explained.

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Ndlovu said any criminals trying similar tactics would also be apprehended.

“I could tell he was up to no good. He also wanted to book the entire taxi to leave straight away and that was sending alarm bells. We managed to detain him and phone one of the numbers. We are very happy that we were able to catch the ‘tsotsi’ (criminal) and recover the stolen items. Anyone trying similar things at this rank will be caught and handed to the police,” Ndlovu added.

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