A taxi trip to Johannesburg turned into a detective adventure, much resembling an Agatha Christie story, where there is a twist in the tale and the culprit is not the person you expect it to be.

A few weeks ago Connie Rikhotso, a 26-year-old resident from the Giyani area, was on her way to Johannesburg. While waiting at the Giyani taxi rank Connie suddenly realised that her wallet was gone. She had a few suspicions of who might have been responsible for the theft, but was not sure. Connie then approached the taxi driver, who suggested they do a body search of all passengers before he left.

According to Connie, the main suspect was an old woman, roughly 70 years old, who had boarded the taxi earlier that morning with her. The passengers were then all escorted to the nearby toilets, where they were searched.

Another passenger, Mithavini Chauke, said she noticed that the granny was not very comfortable while queuing to be searched. When the wallet was subsequently found in her underwear, it was clear to all who the thief was. The R600 cash was still inside the wallet.

“We were very disappointed to see a granny stealing, because we as young people look up to our elders. They are the ones who should guide us in the right direction and teach us the correct values,” Mithavini said.

The victim, Connie Rikhotso, said she decided not to open a case of theft against the granny, seeing that she had received her money back. The granny apparently asked for forgiveness and promised not to do anything like this again. The granny also had to endure the conversation of the passengers for the remainder of the trip to Johannesburg, and they made it clear to her about how they feel about criminals.

Giyani police spokesperson Thomas Makhubele warned people not to trust anyone, especially while they are on a journey and also to be carefully with their money.