Newspaper falls prey to some “midnight shopping”

Date: 02 April 2015 By: Andries van Zyl

In contrast to reporting on other people being the victims of crime, the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror found themselves on the receiving end of crime the past weekend.

At first nobody took notice of the newspaper’s Toyota Quantum delivery van parked behind their offices over weekends. Why should they? - it’s been parked there for years now.

Marketing manager Pieter Jooste’s sharp eye, however, spotted that something was amiss. First off, the back wheels were out of alignment, protruding from under the wheel arches. A shock awaited us upon closer inspection.

It was soon noticed that all four wheels had been removed and apparently replaced haphazardly to avoid early detection that something was wrong. Wheel nuts laid scattered under the vehicle, along with other nuts and bolts.  A look underneath the vehicle soon revealed the true extent of what had happened – the gearbox, transfer case, driveshaft  and the diff’s centre portion were gone!

Yes, over the weekend thieves had done some shopping for spares at the expense of the newspaper. It was obvious that the thugs had had all the time in the world as removing all of these components is no quick exercise. It was also clear that the thieves who had carried out the “midnight spares” exercise knew exactly what they were doing. “You would not believe it, but they did not even trigger the car alarm. When I put the keys in the ignition and turned it on, everything on the dash lit up as it should,” said newspaper owner Anton van Zyl.

It was kind of strange that someone would take the time to remove all the wheels, only to replace them again. The wheels are in good order and would not take long to sell on the “informal” market. “I suspect these guys were working according to a specific ‘shopping list’ for specific parts. The wheels were of no interest to them,” said Anton.

The police were notified of the theft and quickly responded by taking fingerprints and opening a docket.

“This is really getting ridiculous! I am outraged at the criminals’ blatant disrespect for other people’s property. Has it really come down to this? – if you need it, steal it!” remarked Jooste. He was sure that by the time the theft was spotted, the stolen parts were already running on the road again as part of somebody else’s vehicle. “These criminals do not realise the long-term impact their actions have. They are extremely short-sighted. One can argue: ‘But you have insurance', but insurance does not cover loss of business. Now we have to do without the van for a couple of weeks and arrange for alternative transport to do our distribution, at great additional expense,” Jooste said.

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Andries van Zyl

Andries joined the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in April 1993 as a darkroom assistant. Within a couple of months he moved over to the production side of the newspaper and eventually doubled as a reporter. In 1995 he left the newspaper group and travelled overseas for a couple of months. In 1996, Andries rejoined the Zoutpansberger as a reporter. In August 2002, he was appointed as News Editor of the Zoutpansberger, a position he holds until today.

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