ANOTHER vehicle has been stolen from Paarl Mall, despite the presence of car guards.

The latest theft took place last Wednesday evening at approximately 19:40 when Johannes Visagie of a Klein Drakenstein farm went to buy dog food.

He parked his blue Toyota Cressida close to the western to the Mall and was barely inside for 15 minutes.

“I had locked my vehicle and the steering had also been placed in the lock position. When I came out of the Mall, I was confused when I did not see my car.

“There were not too many cars in the parking area, but I could not see my car anywhere. A parking attendant walked by and I asked him if he had seen anything, but he said no. My car had just vanished into thin air.”

Visagie reported the car stolen to Paarl police shortly after this. He also alerted Mall management and asked that a security camera, which was very close to the area where his car was parked, be scrutinised.

But at the time of the theft, the camera did not capture any images of the area where Visagie’s car had been parked.

The Cressida has been in Visagie’s family since 1993 and the amount that his insurance company is prepared to pay out, will not cover the cost of another vehicle.

“This is a real loss for us. She was a very good car and still in excellent running order.”

On 22 January, a bakkie was also stolen from the Mall while it’s owner was having lunch. And last year various vehicles were also stolen there.

Over the past year, the theft of motor vehicles in Paarl has become rampant, with more then 20 vehicles being stolen in this town alone.

It is especially older models of vehicles such as Isuzu and Toyota which are stolen. Their spares are popular in the minibus taxi industry.

Police insiders have said that in the past, the theft of motor vehicles was relatively low in Paarl, due to excellent investigative work by a special police motor vehicle theft task force.

But this task force has been disbanded and vehicle theft has risen by 150% in the area.