Gear Linkage what?

For the past few weeks I have been driving a Corsa Utility which has a gear linkage thingy problem. The farmer knows exactly what the problem is, but believe me, I am no mechanic and still have no idea.

What happens? As soon as I change gears to third, something pops out and I cannot get any other gear than THIRD! You then have to stop, pop the bonnet and burn yourself while trying to "click" the thing back into position. So about a week ago, on our way to Witsand, the farmer, bless him, fixed it with one of my hair elastics! Since then the linkage thingy has not popped out, but it must be fixed "properly", not?

Any case, after three phone calls to GM, at last uncle K understood what I meant by black plastic "thingy". And unfortunately you cannot buy that thingy on its own. Yes, of course you can't. What was I thinking? You have to buy the whole gear-linkage-gearshift-lever-knob thingy for R 1260,76 excluding labour of R400.

A friend, that works for ..., advised this morning, that he has fixed many a gear linkage problem with a cable tie and that those vehicles are still fixed after 10 years! Guess who's off to town to buy a packet of cable ties? (Do cable ties even come in a packet?)

ALL I need is that black plastic stick thingy!!!

If this does not make sense, join the club.