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Johannesburg – A thief who broke into advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza’s car in central Pretoria on Tuesday morning stole his briefcase and laptop containing evidence for the Marikana commission of inquiry.
Ntsebeza is the legal representative for the families of the Marikana miners. Among the items stolen were a telephone book with contacts dating back to his work for the Truth and Reconciliation Commmission in 1995, the keys to his father’s house in the Eastern Cape, an iPad, credit cards, a wallet with R800 in cash, his driver’s licence and passports with a visa to the UK and a visa to the US.
He said police had speculated that the thief likely used a jamming device to prevent his door from locking, opened the rear left door and helped himself to his briefcase and laptop.
The laptop contained footage relating to the Marikana commission of inquiry which he had “painstakingly collected” and had been hoping to use for his memoirs one day.
“I literally have nothing, I don’t have a penny,” Ntsebeza said.
He parked at the intersection of Beatrix and Church streets around 08:00 to go to the arts and culture department to collect documents for a film festival he is attending in Nigeria at the end of the month.
He returned 30 minutes later, put his briefcase back in the car and went to the Nedbank Plaza shopping centre across the road to use the toilet ahead of his drive back to Johannesburg.
“It was probably somebody who saw me when I was putting back the briefcase.”
He only noticed the items were missing when he stopped in Rivonia and needed to take out money.
According to the CCTV footage he saw after he returned to the scene, a man in a brown jacket and dark pants opens the door and emerged moments later with the briefcase and laptop bag.
“There are people who must have realised he was not the owner, but they are going about their business. My entire day has been spoiled. It’s such an inconvenience. It’s such a waste,” he said, adding the belongings that meant the most to him would probably be dumped somewhere.
Ntsebeza had been planning to go to the US in June and would now have to reapply for that visa. The information relating to the Marikana commission could likely be replaced as there were copies with the evidence leaders, he said.
Gauteng police spokespeople Katlego Mogale and Lungelo Dlamini had no knowledge of the incident.
