GEORGE NEWS - Quick action by two George Municipality employees resulted in a woman's wallet being returned to her before she even realised she had lost it.

Miemie Joseph, a general worker, said she, her husband Mario and a friend, Montay le Roux, were driving to work in Langenhoven Road on Monday 22 July when Montay spotted a wallet lying on the step of a rented bakkie.

"Mario jumped out, snapped up the wallet, knocked on the window of the bakkie and held up the wallet. The driver must have misunderstood and waved him off. I took the wallet to work and thought something inside may give a clue to its owner. I saw a student card and was so worried this child needed to be at an exam or something, but there wasn't a contact number anywhere in the wallet. Then I realised my son Wilbur Joseph, a traffic officer, may be able to track her down using the drivers' license. It took a few phone calls, but Wilbur eventually got hold of the owner of the wallet and arranged to meet her to return it," said Miemie.

A brother and sister arrived, amazed at the honesty and effort to which the Joseph family had gone to return the wallet with all cards and cash still inside. The pair returned a while later with a card for Miemie and her family thanking them for their selfless gesture. "When we received your phone call we hadn't even realised yet that it (the wallet) was missing. Our best wishes go with you," read the card.

Miemie said it felt good to be able to help in such a tangible way.

"So much of our lives are inside our wallets these days and applying for replacement of documentation such as an ID document, driver's licence and student cards would be so much hassle. I was glad we could return the wallet before the owner started cancelling and replacing cards," said Miemie.

* The names of the owner and bakkie driver have been withheld as they could not be reached in time for permission to use their names in the story.

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