Police are not investigating a case of theft but the use of a motor vehicle without the owner’s consent.
A school teacher in the Northern Cape may lose her car after a boy crashed it into an irrigation canal.
Pupils at Vaalharts Combined School in Jan Kempdorp were participating in a fundraising day when a group of boys took their fun too far.
The teacher is now concerned that her insurance will not pay for the costly repairs due to the way the police have categorised the incident.
Car wash
One of the fundraising activities at the 16 May event allowed for pupils to wash the teachers’ cars.
To show her support, El-Zane du Plessis gave the grade 11 learners her car keys, expecting a clean vehicle upon their return.
At roughly 1pm, pupils told Du Plessis that three boys had left the school premises in her vehicle.
The 26-year-old teacher would soon find out that the driver had crashed the new Volkswagen compact SUV into an irrigation canal.
The boy’s initial excuse was that he crashed while attempting to avoid a dog, but witnesses say he was driving recklessly.
“The woman said the car almost hit them, but the driver swerved out and went into the canal,” Du Plessis told the Sunday Times.
Use of vehicle without consent
Du Plessis said that her insurance is unlikely to pay for the damage as the incident is not being considered a theft.
“The police said the children did not steal the car to keep it for themselves or sell it, so they opened a case of borrowing without permission,” Du Plessis said.
Northern Cape police spokesperson Colonel Cherelle Ehlers confirmed to The Citizen the incident was under investigation and that additional charges may be added.
“Police in Jan Kempdorp are investigating a case of the use of a motor vehicle without the owner’s consent,” said Ehlers.
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