John de Villiers. (Photo by Steve Haag/Gallo Images)
Former Springbok Captain John of Villiers has told his side of the story after a clip of him chasing a burglar went viral.
De Villiers said red24 earlier this week he spotted a man allegedly stuffing chocolates into his bag before leaving The Boer & Butcher in Paarl on January 23.
De Villiers followed the man out of the store, before giving chase when he tried to escape.
Surveillance footage showed de Villiers running after the man, before returning and handing him over to a security guard.
In an interview with the Cape radio station, KFMOn Friday morning, De Villiers said he received applause – and friendly banter – from fans for his actions.
“I heard this morning that someone said he was wearing Havaianas, but no, it was Adidas,” he joked.
KFM presenter Darren Simpson also joked with De Villiers, asking if he was worried about his knees holding up, given that the former Stormers star suffered a number of knee injuries during his rugby career.
“That’s what I was thinking too,” De Villiers laughed.
“I got in this position and I was just trying to do a good deed. I thought I’d tap the guy on the shoulder and say ‘listen mate, I saw what you did, don’t you want to go for the ribeye special instead of the chocolates.” But when I got closer, he started running and then I realized ‘flip, I’m too deep in this right now to do nothing’. So I had to run and just prayed my knees would hold up.
“Then, halfway through the chase, I saw that there was a huge queue at Internal Affairs, and then I thought what if I can’t catch the guy. That would be pretty embarrassing, but luckily it all worked out.”
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On a more serious note, De Villiers said he hoped his compatriots would follow suit.
“I would like to think that all South Africans would do something when they see something like this happen.
“We are very quick to complain about mistakes in our country, but if we don’t do anything about it, then it won’t get better. So I would like to think that most people would have done exactly the same thing.” .”
Earlier, the store’s owner, Edu Hanekom, told Netwerk24 that they were very appreciative of De Villiers’ actions.
“It was a big deal when a former Springbok rugby captain came along with the thief,” Hanekom said.
