The gaatjie who stole his driver’s taxi two weeks ago has returned the van.
Driver Ashley van Vrede said the van vanished at the Airport Mall on 3 January after he left it in the care of his trusted sliding door operator Nathan Pers, 42.
Ashley, 40, from Voorburg, Delft, says he went to buy takeaways and returned to find white Toyota Quantum gone.
Witnesses told him the gaatjie, who doesn’t have a driving licence, had driven off with it.
Ashley said he tried to get hold of Nathan but his phone was off.
Ashley, a father six, says the van doesn’t belong to him and he was disappointed as he had trusted the gaatjie, who he has known for years.
On the same day that the Daily Voice published Ashley’s story on Friday, 7 January, Nathan read about it and promptly dropped the taxi at the BP garage in Blue Downs and then alerted Ashley that afternoon.
According to Nathan, he is not a dief: “I never stole his van, he gave it to me that morning as usual.
“I just happened to borrow it for a quick trip to Laingsburg later that day, and while I was there I got hired for a trip to Kimberley,” Nathan tells the Daily Voice.
“Thing is, my phone died and I phoned him from a passenger’s phone to let him know.
“I was shocked when he said he never knew where I was.”
Ashley says he got a fright when Nathan called him that Friday afternoon.
“He contacted me saying I must fetch the taxi at the garage and confronted me about the Daily Voice article.
It is because of the article that he brought it back and other people came forward saying he also stole their taxis and I did the right thing by exposing him.”
Ashley says the van was in a bad condition: “The clutch was broken, the tank was empty and he stole my amplifier.
“I needed to borrow money to fix it and started working immediately as I had already lost my income for the whole week.”
But Nathan says he returned the van in the same condition.
“I just drove that taxi, nothing was wrong with it.
“I am going to get him, he’ll see what's coming for him, he must stop with these lies.”
Police spokesman Captain FC Van Wyk confirms the taxi has been found.
“The vehicle was found in Mfuleni after the suspect informed the complainant.
“The vehicle was found in a good condition.
“The case is still pending and no arrests have been made,” he says.
nomzamo.yuku@inl.co.za