Woman buys back stolen cellphone

A woman had her phone stolen at the Noord Street taxi rank on Saturday, only to buy it back the next day from a shop near the crime scene.

But police spokesman Lungelo Dlamini said: “It is illegal to buy stolen goods, even if it’s your own property.”

Thandi Mkhwanazi, 32, went to buy groceries in town and to visit her taxi driver husband at the rank, as she does every weekend.

“As I got off the taxi at around 1pm, a man bumped into me and his small bag swung into my face. While I was trying to avoid him, he was apologising when another man bumped into me from behind.

“I only realised that my phone was gone when they left,” said Mkhwanazi.

Upset at having been mugged for the first time in seven years of living in Joburg, she took the next taxi home.

On Sunday, her husband urged her to visit him again, so she took a taxi back to Noord Street. He gave her money to buy a new phone.

“The one that was stolen was his birthday present to me last year,” she said.

She walked into a shop near the taxi rank, and the first thing she saw was her own phone up for sale.

“I saw a dent in the corner from when I dropped it in the kitchen, and dark-red nail varnish on the back, which I spilled on it when I was getting dressed on Friday night,” she said.

Unable to convince the shopowner that it was her phone, she bought it for R300.

When she got home, she found her original phone box and confirmed her suspicions.

“The IMEI numbers matched,” she said.

She returned to the shop, and after some arguing, got her money back.

The Star located the owner of the shop.

“I normally ask the salesman for a copy of their ID and a contact number, but he said he didn’t have any, so I just took a chance,” said the businessman, whose name is known to The Star.

The shopowner said he had bought the phone for R200 from a man who looked about 40 years old, with whom he has done business in the past.

“It was my mistake,” said the shopowner.

Dlamini explained that shops selling secondhand goods are operating under the Second Hand Goods Act.

“This means that they must keep records of all goods in their shops, which includes the particulars of people who brought the goods,” he said.

Dlamini said the police would investigate the matter.