Resident fumes after smoking Golf stolen from mechanic

A Lotus Gardens resident is fuming and wants answers as to how her car, that was giving her mechanical problems, recently went missing from the place where it was being fixed.
Caroline Holman, a resident of Amaranth Crescent, in Lotus Gardens, was shocked to learn from her mechanic, that her Blue VW Golf (registration number BSM 739 GP), was apparently stolen from his Pretoria West yard without anyone seeing it being taken. Caroline fumed to the Laudium Sun, “My Golf needed to go to a mechanic, as it was giving some problems. I think it needed a service as the car also started to smoke a bit. It had a few problems that needed to be attended to, but I did not want to take it to the VW dealerships because they are very expensive. Besides it was an older model. So I decided to take it to our family mechanic and panel beater, Osman, in Pretoria West, whom we have known for years and we trust. So I could never have anticipated something bad happening to my car. After about a week of the car being at the mechanic, I received a call on Saturday, from Osman. I was glad that he called, as I thought he was updating me regarding the progress made on repairing my car and that hopefully it would soon be ready for collection. I really needed the car back, as it’s difficult to move around without a car. But to my surprise, I immediately picked up that Osman did not sound right on the phone and I sensed that there was a problem with the car. I thought perhaps he would tell me that the engine had ceased or something like that, which would cost me lots of money to fix. But, Osman was silent for a while and all of a sudden told me that he had very bad news for me, and told me that my car had been stolen. He explained that when he went into his yard on Saturday, he noticed that my car was missing. Apparently, thieves broke the gate open and pushed the car out. I just can’t understand why someone would steal a car that is still being repaired? The car had just been re-sprayed and even the door handles had not been put back. How come no neighbors or anyone else saw my car being pushed outside the yard? It seems they stole it just for parts. This is very difficult for me. I just hope and pray that if someone sees my car anywhere, they will contact the police or even let me know through the Laudium Sun”, the visibly upset Caroline said.
Osman Dennis, the mechanic from Mahem Street, West Park, said, “The car was parked inside my yard. I checked my yard at around 3am early that Saturday morning, and all was fine. But when I checked again at around 7am that same Saturday, after waking up, there was no car. I was shocked and devastated. My front gate had been forced open and I think that they towed the Golf after pushing it out of the yard. I was almost finished with the repairs. I was done with the outside spraying of the car, and attending to the engine repairs. There were only some things to fix on the inside of the car, which I was still working on, but now the car has been stolen. I just cannot believe it. I thought this place was safer than Laudium or Lotus Gardens, but clearly it is not. I have opened a case with the Pretoria West Police. I hope they will do something about it.”
Constable Sibongile Vuma, from the Pretoria West Police said, “A case of car theft and damage to property has been opened and police are investigating. No arrests have been made yet. I urge the community to assist the police, if there is any information that may help us in closing in on the case.”

The VW Golf that was apparently stolen from the Pretoria West yard of mechanic, Osman Dennis (Photo taken at a neighbor’s yard after just being re-sprayed).