Pictured: The South African who keeps his car ssssafe by placing two pythons on his dashboard



Forget immobilizers, trackers and alarms – this is car security South African style.



A car owner in Durban has found a way of combating spiralling vehicle crime: leave two deadly pythons on the dashboard.



The giant reptiles slither round inside his Audi TT while their faith healer owner, Dr Mbuso Makhathini, visits customers.

Sssstay away: Tiny and Naughty the pythons guard their owner's car

Named Tiny and Naughty, the male snakes have become something of a tourist attraction in the coastal city with onlookers keeping a cautious distance.



Both are African Rock Pythons with four-and-a-half-year-old Tiny measuring an impressive 12ft and Naughty, three, not far behind at 10ft.

Dr Makhathini, 37, who runs a traditional African healing clinic like his grandfather, says the snakes are pets as well as guards.

'I take them around with me but no one has dared break into my car. They come up and look but don’t get too close. They can sense if someone is unfriendly and they hiss and start coiling.



'But with me and people they like, they are very friendly. They have a cage at home but we let them travel about and we often wake up with them in our bed in the morning,' said Zulu Dr Makhatini who is married with two young boys.



The snakes each eat a dead rabbit once a week and the doctor said he ensures they have enough water.



However the local Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is not impressed.



Senior inspector Dougie du Plessis said he had been trying to locate the owner to check he had a permit for the African Rock Pythons which can grow up to 16ft and kill their prey by crushing them to death.

Mr du Plessis said: 'We are concerned for the snakes’ welfare. He shouldn’t be keeping them in his car all day because they can dehydrate, particularly in Durban where it gets so hot and humid.



'We’ve tried to get in touch with him but it’s proving a little difficult. This is unacceptable behaviour.'



There were 82,000 hijackings and car thefts in South Africa last year.



Drivers are often targeted at traffic lights or pulling into their properties by thieves who work in gangs and are armed.