A retired Western Cape professor went to the police station in East London on Sunday to make a statement about damage to his rental car, only to discover that his four hubcaps were stolen while he was inside the police station.
Prof Johannes Cronjé grins wryly.
“It is not every day that I have to go to a police station, but having to go back inside immediately afterwards to report a fresh crime is certainly a first for me,” Cronjé told TimesLIVE Premium on Tuesday.
Cronjé, the former dean of informatics and design at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology from 2007 to 2021, was on a work trip combined with a walk down memory lane last week when the double blow struck.
“I retired in December 2024 to pursue a new career as an academic life coach. I turn students into masters, masters into doctors and doctors into professors. As a part of my portfolio, I conduct academic writing workshops, as well as sessions on Artificial Intelligence for higher education.
“In this capacity, I was invited by the University of Fort Hare to spend Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of last week in Alice at their main campus, and this week, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in East London. That gave me the weekend free, and since I had not been in the Eastern Cape, I took the opportunity to explore,” Cronjé said.
Step one was a journey back in time.
“My first exploration was on August 21 when I drove up to Dordrecht to see the shop that my great grandfather built in 1906. The building is still there and currently used as a hardware store.”
From there he drove to Hogsback.
“In the process, running low on fuel. The schoolboy who poured in the petrol also showed me a small flap in front of the car that had come loose and was scraping on the road. He fixed it a little, and I was off.”
On Saturday, he travelled to Bathurst and Makhanda.
“ I met friends from Rhodes University. On Sunday morning, I found that the flap had come loose again. So I stuck it down with sticky tape. But I realised that the car rental insurance policy dictated that I had to report the damage to the police. So I went to the Fleet Street police station on Sunday morning at around 10.30am. Though there were many church services going on in the area, I still found parking four spaces from the door of the police station,” Cronjé said.
“The policeman in front of the station directed me inside where I was helped almost immediately and asked to sit down and wait. I asked if I could go and fetch my book in the car to have something to do. When I came back there was no time to read the book. The friendly policeman helped me to make the statement. He signed and stamped it, and I took a picture for my records. Then I returned to the car before 10am only to find that all four the hubcaps had been stolen.”
He then had to go back to the police station, and this time it was not just for a statement.
“We had to open a formal case of theft, which, again, was done very efficiently and effectively.”
There was one humorous moment.
“The police asked to take fingerprints of the car, but it would make no sense since the only prints would be on the stolen caps,” Cronjé laughed.
In spite of his lost hubcaps, Cronjé is satisfied with the service he received from the police.
“Though I am aware of the delicious irony of having your hubcaps stolen in front of the police station, I must commend the police on excellent service. Also, given the location of the police station directly across from an informal market, it would be impossible to patrol that area.”
Eastern Cape police spokesperson Capt Hazel Mqala confirmed the incident to TimesLIVE Premium.
“Police can confirm that they are investigating a case of theft, this after wheel caps were allegedly stolen from the complainant's vehicle that was parked in Fleet Street, East London, on August 24. A case is under investigation, and there have been no arrests at this stage,” said Mqala.
