Mogamat Daniels, 39, a father of three, appeared in the Parow Regional Court, before Magistrate Constance Nziweni, who said his list of previous convictions showed that he did not learn from his mistakes.
It seems that his good fortune - the purchase of the vehicle for only R13 000 and then picking up a toy gun with live ammunition in its magazine - turned into the misfortune of going to prison.
Had he behaved calmly when he noticed the police, as he drove around with friends, instead of speeding away and causing suspicion, he might not have been stopped.
But cops caught up with him after a high-speed chase, to discover that the car was, in fact, stolen and a toy pistol with live ammunition hidden under the front seat.
Daniels claimed that he had picked up the gun in the street.
He pleaded guilty, which counted in his favour, said Nziweni.
She said it seemed he had chosen crime as his career and it was people like him who ensured a market for stolen property.
Daniels had no respect for other people’s belongings, she said.
The fact that the ammunition was in a magazine fixed to a toy gun did not make the offence any less serious, she added.