Another Beetle stolen, please spread the word!
Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2011 3:44 pm
Any regular newspaper readers among you will recognise the the name of Dr Lucas Ntyintyane, whose letters provide many of us with the inspiration to keep on believing in this country. Unfortunately, a Beetle the good doctor used for charity work was stolen from Cresta mall parking lot this weekend. Let's all spread the word across all our networks and help him recover his little bugger.
It's a white Beetle with reg ZWT449GP. Contact W/O RA Peach at Linden police station 011 888 9292.
Here's his letter in today's Business Day:
http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/C ... ?id=146213
Reader wants stolen Beetle back
On Sunday morning I laughed at The Economist’s depiction of Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi as "the man who screwed an entire country". Little did I know that later that day I would be the one screwed. The criminals have screwed me, like everyone else in the country.
The Idols singer Chad Saaiman was not so lucky. Nor was police reservist Mark Ishlove, who paid with his life fighting crime (may his soul rest in peace). I digress!
After my research fellowship tenure with a Washington-based institute, I bought an old white VW Beetle to use for my medical charity mission. The old bugger was special to me. Its simplicity did not attract attention to my wallet and saved me from potential hijackers. I hate talking about my private life as it would sound as a personal advertisement, which is not my intention.
The charity mission is my way of ploughing back to society. On my private time I did house-to-house visits for poor patients who cannot afford medical fees or were too ill to stand in long queues in public clinics. Most of these patients were referred by friends or relatives. It was a free service and I paid for their medication out of my pocket.
Late on Sunday morning, my old friend was stolen in the parking lot of Cresta Mall. I was on my way to visit another patient. It beats me why would anyone steal it: it is not a babe magnet; neither is it a BEE status toy. You cannot use it as a getaway car. It is just a simple car for an ordinary man.
My medical textbooks, Ernest Hemingway notepads, stethoscopes and patients’ bandages are now gone. There is something wrong about this whole episode. Saaiman is shot for a Polo. My Beetle is taken in broad daylight in front of car guards and security cameras. It is as if the criminals are in charge and all we can do is sit back.
I refuse to fold my hands. This is not a criminal democracy but my democracy too. Criminals cannot do as they please. I will use my brain and pen to hit back; if social media helped liberate Tunisia, why can’t we use it to fight crime?
The police cannot win this fight alone. Let’s reclaim our streets. South Africans will assist me in getting back my dear friend. Our tweets , Facebook, letters, radios, newspapers will liberate the old bugger from criminal hands. No criminal will drive that Bee tle. Through my pen I will make it too hot for them to handle.
For the sake of my patients, I will fight back. Help me; help yourself. If you spot an old white VW Beetle (ZWT 449 GP), please contact Linden police W/O RA Peach on (011) 888-9292 or Crime Line.
Dr Lucas Ntyintyane
Cresta
It's a white Beetle with reg ZWT449GP. Contact W/O RA Peach at Linden police station 011 888 9292.
Here's his letter in today's Business Day:
http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/C ... ?id=146213
Reader wants stolen Beetle back
On Sunday morning I laughed at The Economist’s depiction of Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi as "the man who screwed an entire country". Little did I know that later that day I would be the one screwed. The criminals have screwed me, like everyone else in the country.
The Idols singer Chad Saaiman was not so lucky. Nor was police reservist Mark Ishlove, who paid with his life fighting crime (may his soul rest in peace). I digress!
After my research fellowship tenure with a Washington-based institute, I bought an old white VW Beetle to use for my medical charity mission. The old bugger was special to me. Its simplicity did not attract attention to my wallet and saved me from potential hijackers. I hate talking about my private life as it would sound as a personal advertisement, which is not my intention.
The charity mission is my way of ploughing back to society. On my private time I did house-to-house visits for poor patients who cannot afford medical fees or were too ill to stand in long queues in public clinics. Most of these patients were referred by friends or relatives. It was a free service and I paid for their medication out of my pocket.
Late on Sunday morning, my old friend was stolen in the parking lot of Cresta Mall. I was on my way to visit another patient. It beats me why would anyone steal it: it is not a babe magnet; neither is it a BEE status toy. You cannot use it as a getaway car. It is just a simple car for an ordinary man.
My medical textbooks, Ernest Hemingway notepads, stethoscopes and patients’ bandages are now gone. There is something wrong about this whole episode. Saaiman is shot for a Polo. My Beetle is taken in broad daylight in front of car guards and security cameras. It is as if the criminals are in charge and all we can do is sit back.
I refuse to fold my hands. This is not a criminal democracy but my democracy too. Criminals cannot do as they please. I will use my brain and pen to hit back; if social media helped liberate Tunisia, why can’t we use it to fight crime?
The police cannot win this fight alone. Let’s reclaim our streets. South Africans will assist me in getting back my dear friend. Our tweets , Facebook, letters, radios, newspapers will liberate the old bugger from criminal hands. No criminal will drive that Bee tle. Through my pen I will make it too hot for them to handle.
For the sake of my patients, I will fight back. Help me; help yourself. If you spot an old white VW Beetle (ZWT 449 GP), please contact Linden police W/O RA Peach on (011) 888-9292 or Crime Line.
Dr Lucas Ntyintyane
Cresta