A bogus mechanic has had his prison sentence for car theft reduced to eight years after winning an appeal in the Western Cape High Court in Cape Town.
Daniel Dekker was convicted and sentenced in the Parow Regional Court to a total of 12 years in prison – six years for each count of motor vehicle theft and three years for theft out of a motor vehicle in June 2024.
The Parow Regional Court further ruled that the sentences were to run consecutively rather than concurrently.
Modus operandi
Dekker’s crimes targeted three victims over a 13 month period.
Dekker had posed as a mechanic on Facebook, deceiving his victims into paying him upfront for supposed repairs.
His method involved convincing them that additional work was required on their vehicles, prompting more payments.
The first incident occurred in November 2018 and involved the theft of a Nissan Navara owned by Abdullah Arnold.
Dekker told Arnold that his daughter had been burnt and that he needed money for hospital bills.
While Arnold sympathised and made an additional payment, Dekker continued to claim that more repairs were needed.
When Arnold later demanded the return of his vehicle, which Dekker had promised, it never materialised.
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The second theft, in May 2019, concerned a Volkswagen Jetta 3 VR6 belonging to Sanoxolo Vandala.
Vandala paid Dekker a R4 000 deposit, after which the accused collected the car from Mike’s Place for repairs.
When Vandala went to Dekker’s home to collect the vehicle, he was told that the accused had taken it for a test drive.
While waiting, Vandala received a phone call from Dekker claiming he had been hijacked on the N1 in Kraaifontein.
Dekker instructed him to go to the Kraaifontein police station with the vehicle’s documents.
Upon arrival, Vandala discovered that Dekker had not opened a hijacking case and became suspicious.
When his car was never returned, he reported the matter at the Elsies River police station, opening a case of theft.
Car impounded with missing parts
The final incident took place in December 2021.
Gregory Peters sent his SsangYong Rexton to Dekker for repairs, paying R10 000 upfront.
The following day, Dekker demanded an additional R7 000, claiming more repairs were necessary and later asked for another R1 000 for his son’s birthday.
Peters refused that request, but made further payments for supposed replacement parts.
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In January 2022, Dekker informed Peters that the Rexton had been impounded by City of Cape Town law enforcement in Pinelands.
When Peters went to check, he found his vehicle stripped and missing its engine, gearbox and headrests.
He paid R1 000 to release and recover what was left of the car.
Dekker was later arrested, tried and sentenced.
Appeal application
Almost a year later in April 2025, Dekker applied for leave to appeal his sentence.
He said the sentence was too harsh, suggesting that the magistrate placed too much weight on the gravity of the offences and failed to balance this with his personal circumstances.
He said he was a first-time offender, still young and deserving of leniency.
Dekker further argued that the magistrate failed to consider that he had already spent time in custody awaiting trial.
The accused added that he was of the view that his sentence did not adequately take his potential for rehabilitation into account.
Western Cape High Court judgment
Acting judge Tanya Golden, however, found that the magistrate had correctly characterised Dekker as a thief who deliberately “scammed” his victims and “milked” them of their money.
“The appellant has unashamedly preyed on these unsuspecting complainants, two of whom are elderly persons who trusted the appellant with their vehicles and their money.
“The appellant did not show empathy for his victims,” she said.
Golden said that the evidence suggested the offences were premeditated and that Dekker was not, in fact, a first-time offender.
He had a prior conviction for fraud, which “involved an element of dishonesty”.
“For the previous conviction, the appellant was partly sentenced to a prison term.
“Clearly, at that time, the court gave him time to reflect on his conduct. He was also given the opportunity to rehabilitate.
“Evidently, the sentence that was imposed for his previous conviction did not deter him from committing crimes involving dishonesty. Instead, he committed a spree of offences,” the 10 October judgment reads.
Despite this, Golden found that the initial sentence was “unduly harsh and excessive”.
She upheld the appeal, reducing the sentence to six years for the second count, while the first and third counts remain unchanged.
The sentences will now run concurrently.
“Effectively, the appellant is sentenced to eight years imprisonment. The sentence is backdated to 6 June 2024.”
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