A BMW 520i motor vehicle was stolen on 24 April 1993. On the same day it was brought to the appellant’s panelbeating workshop in Welkom and, with his concurrence, left there. The vehicle was resprayed, its engine replaced with a second-hand engine purchased in Johannesburg, and a wrecked BMW body was also acquired for parts, including its chassis numbers. The reconstituted vehicle was registered in the appellant’s name as a new (1993) vehicle and used by his wife. The vehicle was later recovered and the appellant charged with theft. The State relied mainly on the evidence of the appellant’s business partner, Squire, and a labourer, Bester, who testified that the appellant knew the car was stolen and intended to disguise its identity. The appellant’s defence was that he had innocently purchased the vehicle from a man known as Wepeng and had no knowledge that it was stolen. Two documentary exhibits (B and D) were admitted at trial as corroboration of the State witnesses.