The statistics provide a few key insights into the scourge of vehicle hijacking and theft in South Africa
WHILE the Northern Cape accounts for less than 1% of all Tracker activations, it has been revealed that the highest number of hijackings in the Province are in Postmasburg, while theft of motor vehicles are most prevalent in Kimberley.
According to Tracker’s latest Vehicle Crime Index, the company’s efforts to combat vehicle crime resulted in 3 081 vehicle recoveries, 512 arrests and 23 firearms recovered throughout the country in the second half of 2019.
“We are delighted to have reached the 100 000 milestone for vehicle recoveries,” said the company’s Ron Knott-Craig.
The statistics provide a few key insights into the scourge of vehicle hijacking and theft in South Africa.
According to the tracking and recovery specialist, which collects data from its 1.1 million subscriber base, Saturday is the day of the week on which most vehicles are hijacked or stolen. This is followed by Thursday in the case of hijackings and Friday for regular vehicle theft.
The data also shows that most hijackings are reported between 8pm and 9pm, followed by the two-hour period between 12 noon and 2pm, regardless of the day of week. Most vehicle thefts, on the other hand, are reported between 11am and 2pm.
Gauteng has by far the highest percentage of vehicle crimes, at 54 percent, with Johannesburg being the hot spot for hijackings and Pretoria taking the lead for vehicle theft.
KwaZulu-Natal is the second most prevalent province for car crime, with Durban being the top spot for both hijacking and theft, while the Western Cape takes third spot, with Khayelitsha being the carjack capital and the city of Cape Town recording the most thefts.
Other hijacking hot spots, according to Tracker, are Rustenberg in the North West, eMalahleni in Mpumalanga, Polokwane in Limpopo, Bloemfontein in the Free State and Ibhayi in the Eastern Cape.
The sparsely populated Northern Cape experiences very little in the way of car crime, accounting for less than one percent of activations, with hijackings primarily taking place in Postmasburg and thefts in Kimberley.
