Gqeberha restaurateur’s TikTok helps Springbok photographer recover ‘stolen’ camera bag

During the commotion that comes with taking the Springboks’ official team photo, well-known photographer Anton Geyser found himself separated from his camera bag.

When the dust settled, fans had left and Geyser had a chance to return to the parking area of the Southern Sun Marine Hotel, where the team photo was taken, his bag was nowhere to be found.

The Pretoria-based photographer was in Gqeberha as the Springboks’ official photographer when they thrashed the Barbarians at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.

However, within the days that followed, he was inundated with calls and messages about a Nelson Mandela Bay restaurant owner trying to track him down through a series of TikTok videos.

“I had no idea who this guy was or how he had such a massive following, but I had friends from Nelson Mandela Bay and Pretoria reaching out to me after they saw his videos with my camera bag,” Geyser laughed.

Turns out that Bojan Ivanovic, the owner of Balkan Burger in Gqeberha, had picked up the camera bag for safekeeping, and proceeded to track down the rightful owner by means of his ever-growing following on TikTok.

Ivanovic and his restaurant’s TikTok page has close to 230,000 followers, and mostly posts quirky and uplifting videos to market his business and “spread good vibes”.

But on this occasion, it proved to be a useful tool to ensure that Geyser was reunited with about R50,000 worth of camera equipment.

Ivanovic explained that he took his media team to the Marine Hotel to shoot content with the Springboks for their social media platforms. While there, they had a chance to rub shoulders with the boys in green and gold and shake hands with captain Siya Kolisi.

“After the team left, we still hung around for a bit and shot some reels. I noticed the camera bag lying in the middle of the parking area, and nearby I also saw a vagrant sitting around like he was waiting for us to leave.

“I made the call to pick up the bag. I thought it would be easier for me to track the owner than it would be for the owner to recover his stolen property.”

Ivanovic immediately uploaded a video on TikTok about finding the bag. Back at his restaurant, in the Boardwalk Mall, he made a second video where he went through the bag, found a camera lens, some photography equipment and Geyser’s business card.

Geyser said he and Ivanovic managed to get in touch, and he was very surprised and relieved about getting his equipment back.

“While the two of us were trying to make arrangements for my bag to get home, I probably got 20 calls and messages from people telling me where my bag is and how they saw it on TikTok. I was blown away by how nice this man was and how his following played a role in this whole story,” Geyser said.

Balkan Burger’s next video showed Ivanovic packing Geyser’s bag to be shipped to Pretoria, which has since landed home safely.

The restaurateur, also known as Mr B, explained he recently lost some valuable property to thieves, and he was just happy to help someone else.

Earlier this month, Ivanovic posted another video where he detailed how his laptop, along with some valuable and sentimental items, was stolen from his office in the back of his restaurant. In the video, he called on the thieves to return his property within 12 hours, and he would not press charges.

“I thought maybe these were just dumb kids who deserve a second chance. If I got my stuff back, then no one lost anything, and criminal charges would not be necessary.”

In the reel, he proceeded to show where the mall’s security cameras were situated, which way the culprits fled the scene, and even stated that the police pulled the getaway car’s registration number from the security footage.

Unfortunately, his property was never returned. The investigation has since uncovered that these were members of a sophisticated, and possibly dangerous, crime syndicate.

So Mr B shrugged his shoulders, took a sip of his coffee, and said: “It is what it is. No use in crying about it.”

Since then, he has returned to making his ever-popular “Good morning Gqeberha!” reels and funny and uplifting videos with his staff – some of which have been viewed as many as 13 million times.

“The videos are about spreading positivity, engaging with the community and poking fun at ourselves. Yes, it markets the business, but for me that is a byproduct, not the main goal,” Ivanovic said.

The 46-year-old Yugoslavian came to South Africa with his family in 1992, where his parents started and ran a series of businesses throughout his childhood.

After a successful career as a software engineer, he teamed up with his sister Lidija, a qualified attorney, 15 years ago to start their journey into the restaurant world.

When their food truck in Gauteng began doing well, they wanted to explore other locations, and identified Gqeberha for its growing food culture. Three years later, they have developed a following, employing 20 locals, and people keep coming back for three things – the burgers, the coffee and the freshly baked bread.

“And in August, we are scheduled to open our second shop in Gqeberha, and from there want to conquer the world! So keep an eye on our social media for updates,” Ivanovic said. DM