OCEAN View resident, Bettie Qotoyi (36), had to ‘buy back’ her own stolen Nike shoes after they wer stolen from outside Tubs Laundromat in Oribi Street, Jeffreys Bay.
Qotoyi, who works at Tubs Laundromat, says that after washing her shoes early that morning, she put them on the wall outside to dry – something she had done several times before.
Thus, big was her shock when she went outside hours later only to realise that her shoes valued at R1 200 were gone.
With the help of Tubs Laundromat owner, George Venter, and colleague, Lyn Jooste, they combed the streets looking for her takkies – but without any success.
“I even uploaded a picture of my shoes on Facebook and Whatsapp in the hope that someone would recognise them,” says Qotoyi.
Thinking that she would never see her takkies again, she went home.
“I was astonished when two men knocked on my door at around 18:30 that same day, trying to sell my takkies back to me for R100. Or R80 if I did not have enough money on me,” says Qotoyi who recognised her shoes straight away.
“Being home alone, I did not want to confront the two men and asked them to come with me to my neighbours where I would borrow the money for the shoes.
“Once there, I showed them the post on Facebook and said that I want my takkies back. At first they denied that they were my shoes, as they only steal in Wavecrest and not the informal settlements – not knowing that I work in Wavecrest.
“They later agreed to return my shoes, but I still had to give them R5 for bread.
“I am just glad to have my takkies back. God is good.”
