Daily Sun (September 16 2014) - IT seems Siphiwe Mtshali, who plays Bash in Rhythm City, is taking his play acting a little too far.
First his debit card was rejected, but he wouldn't go to the ATM. By now Siphiwe was acting tough with the garage attendants - but clearly he didn't have the money.
THEN, BEFORE THEY KNEW IT, OUT-OF-CASH BASH WAS GONE - IN A FLASH!
The drama started on Saturday morning when Siphiwe arrived at the Engen garage at Modderfontein, Joburg in a white Mercedes-Benz, accompanied by a woman passenger.
Garage manager Johannes Ramila (37) told Daily Sun Simphiwe arrived at about 6am and asked the petrol attendant to fill the tank.
"His bill came to R822," said Johannes.
"Then he offered his debit card for payment."
He said Siphiwe's card was declined on the first swipe of the Speedpoint machine.
"The attendant tried two other Speedpoints and the card was still declined," said Johannes.
"When the attendant told Siphiwe there was an ATM that he could use to draw money the angry actor refused," he said.
Johannes said the attendants went with Siphiwe into the shop and advised him to call someone to pay the bill for him.
"He started throwing his weight around and telling the staff that they didn't know who he was. Then he stormed out of the shop and drove off," said Johannes.
Johannes said this is not the first time Siphiwe has driven off without paying. "Last month, he came to the garage and put in R200 worth of petrol and left without paying."
He said when they chased the actor and explained to him that he hadn't paid his bill, he gave them the wrong contact details and promised to come back in two days to pay.
"When we tried to call him after two days, the number didn't work. He came back three weeks later to pay the R200 for the petrol that he stole," said Johannes.
He said he is tired of the actor coming to his garage when he knows very well he doesn't have any money.
"I'm not going to wait until the end of the month for him to pay. If a customer doesn't pay, the employees must pay in the money. He can't come here and take the food from my family's mouths."
Siphiwe confirmed the incident to Daily Sun. He said his card had reached the daily limit so he wasn't able to settle the payment then. He also confirmed that he went back to the same garage yesterday morning and paid what he owed in full.
However, Johannes told Daily Sun this was not the truth. "We have not seen or heard from him since Saturday morning," he said.
See the Daily Sun mobi site for more on this and other stories....
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Issued through the Politicsweb iService
