If you own a Toyota Tazz, keep an eye on it – that's the word on the street. Rhodes University’s Campus Protection Unit, Grahamstown Police and Hi-Tec officers deny there's been a noticeable spike in the past month, but there have been two thefts and two attempted thefts of Tazz model in recent weeks.
If you own a Toyota Tazz, keep an eye on it – that's the word on the street. Rhodes University’s Campus Protection Unit, Grahamstown Police and Hi-Tec officers deny there's been a noticeable spike in the past month, but there have been two thefts and two attempted thefts of Tazz model in recent weeks.
Hill Street resident Janet Wilson awoke in the early hours of 11 August to find her Toyota Tazz had vanished from outside her house.
Elvira van Noort, owner of a backpackers in George Street, said her Tazz had been stolen within half an hour of parking it at 9pm on 6 August.
In both cases, there were no traces of broken glass on the ground, so the windows had probably not been smashed. This suggested that the thief had entered using a tool such as an Allen key, which broke the ball bearing in the lock and made it easy for a thief to open the car door, said Hi-Tec employee Erich Nel. An Allen key could also be used in the ignition, to start the car.
Organised crime
Victims of car theft agree that this appears to be a highly organised crime. Police spokesperson Captain Mali Govender confirms this. She revealed that Grahamstown police recently arrested a group of four men in connection with car theft.
The men, who were driving a gold Toyota Avanza, had come from Umtata and were each carrying between R400 and R500. “This money was intended to go towards filling up stolen vehicles in order to make a quick getaway,” said Govender.
While the Rhodes Campus Protection Unit claims there has been only one car theft on campus this year, thanks to their high-profile presence there, students living off-campus have had worse luck.
Rhodes student Claire Martin’s Tazz was tampered with on the same morning Wilson's disappeared. The interior of the car was a wreck, prompting the man who towed the car away to say it might as well have been stolen, because the damage was going to cost Martin a fortune.
Another student, Kirsten Macgillivray, heard a car pull up outside her Milner Street digs on Tuesday 9 August. She said she heard someone fiddling with her car and ran outside. She saw the men jump into a waiting vehicle and drive quickly away.
Nel, who believes that the rate of car-theft has increased over the past two years, said thieves were sent orders by their superiors to steal specific makes of cars, which were used for their parts. Older-model cars were mostly targeted, as they seldom had tracking systems installed. It was often difficult to catch the criminals, particularly if they were part of a bigger crime organisation. It was up to individuals to be diligent about their vehicles, said Captain Govender.
Top Tips for protecting your car
- Be aware of cars following you when driving home at night. If you feel like you are being followed, drive to the nearest police station.
- Park your car in a well-lit area at night.
- Look out for cars in your area that you don’t recognise and whose occupants are acting in an unusual way.
- Prevent your car from being an attraction – don’t leave valuables in your car. If you have a detachable CD player, remove it and keep it hidden. Criminals might want to steal something from your vehicle and end up stealing your vehicle”.
- Don’t leave spare keys hidden in your car.
- Invest in a tracker system, gear lock or immobiliser.
– from Captain Mali Govender
These are the areas in which Tazz cars were stolen or tampered with
View Tazz related incidents in a larger map
