A skelm is pondering his bad luck after he was caught shop-lifting by fleet-footed former Springbok skipper Jean de Villiers in a Paarl shop.
According to widespread reports, the Bok hero was in The Boer & Butcher when he noticed a man pocketing sweets and then leaving the shop without paying.
Store owner Edu Hanekom said De Villiers and his wife Marlie are regular customers and they were waiting to pay for their goods when De Villiers saw the man helping himself to some lekkers.
When he did not pay for them, De Villiers followed him out of the store and then yelled at him to stop, at which point the daring dief took flight.
The 41-year-old De Villiers gave chase and there was only going to be one winner, and the hapless skelm was brought back to the winkel and handed over to a security guard.
De Villiers, who ran out in 109 Tests for the Bokke, said: “When I said ‘hey’ he looked around and started running.
“Then I just said to myself I must also run now, and I chased him across the road towards Home Affairs, with my slops and sunglasses coming off.
“There is always a queue at Home Affairs and he bumped into a guy and I was able to secure him.”
Hanekom was grateful to the legendary Springbok.
“We are very grateful for Jean’s actions. It was quite a thing when a former Springbok captain arrived with a thief,” Hanekom said.
Screenshots from CCTV cameras clearly show De Villiers in pursuit of the man.
The incident occurred on January 23.
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