Councillor furious after car is keyed at centre
Councillor Jethro Lefevre stopped off at Musgrave Centre and returned to find his car had been maliciously scratched.
WARD councillor, Jethro Lefevre, is fuming after his car, which he parked at Musgrave Centre, was maliciously keyed causing extensive damage that will cost tens of thousands to fix.
According to Lefevre, he parked his car, a black Audi A4, at the centre on 7 January and when he returned 20 minutes later, he noticed the scratch marks along the length of his car.
“I will have to have all five panels taken off and sprayed . The bonnet, two side panels and doors, will cost around R50 000 to fix,” he said, adding that he had requested CCTV footage from Musgrave Centre management, which he had received on Monday 20 January.
On viewing the footage, Lefevre said he had noticed gaps in the footage, where minutes are lost.
“I parked far away from other cars to avoid anyone scratching my car, but this has still happened. I feel it is malicious. The footage is bad. The camera is either faulty or footage has been deleted. The camera is also in a bad position, which needs to be addressed,” he said.
The footage does not show any persons other than a security guard near the vehicle throught the 20 minutes. The guard appears to approach the vehicle, can be viewed next to the vehicle for an extended amount of time, before he is seen moving back to one of the entrances. Lefevre contacted the the manager of the security company by telephone in the presence of the Berea Mail. The manager told him the guard seen int he footage would be brought in and polygraphed.
“Surely the centre has public liability and should pay for this damage. We pay to park in the centre, why do we pay if our vehicles are not safe?” complained an angry Lefevre.
In reply, Musgrave Centre management said the camera in question was a static camera which only recorded when triggered by movement. This explained the gap in timing of the clips. “Unfortunately, in this alleged incident, movement was not detected as the vehicle was parked too far away from the camera and the perpetrator cannot be seen approaching the car from an alternative route. We assume he or she approached from the fire escape on the other side of the vehicle.”
