The rate of vehicle hijacking has seen a slight decrease in South Africa, but the numbers remain alarming.
According to the latest crime statistics released by the South African Police Service (SAPS) on Friday, 5,438 carjackings took place throughout the country from April to June 2024, which is statistically regarded as the first quarter of the new financial year.
This represents a decrease of 0.91% from the 5,488 carjackings recorded in the same period of 2023, and a 7.2% decline from 2022’s 5,866, which was the highest number recorded this decade.
On a provincial level, the Western Cape saw a 17.1% year-on-year increase in carjackings from April to June, with incidents rising from 749 to 877, which saw the province overtaking KwaZulu-Natal for second place in the country.
But it was the Eastern Cape that experienced the biggest increase, with carjacking occurrences rising by 30.2% from 394 to 513, putting the province in fourth place nationally.
Gauteng recorded a 4.8% decrease over the same period, although the country’s most populous province is still by far the carjacking capital, with 2,605 occurrences recorded between April and June, which is 47.9% of the country’s total.
Gauteng is still significantly over-represented when it comes to carjackings given that the province houses around 25% of the country’s population.
KZN, in third place nationally, saw a 12.9% year-on-year decrease in the April to June period, with 727 carjackings reported.
Among the other provinces Mpumalanga recorded 330 carjackings (-26%), followed by the North West at 186 (+0.5%), Limpopo (135 carjackings, down 12.9%), Free State (58 incidents, -15.9%) and Northern Cape (7 incidents, -30%).
Hatchbacks and sedans, grouped together, were the most hijacked vehicle type, accounting for 2,511 of carjackings, followed by bakkies and panel vans (1,695), SUVs (404) and minibuses (345).
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The SAPS did not release any information on the most commonly hijacked vehicle brands and models.
However Fidelity Security earlier this year mentioned the Toyota Hilux, Fortuner, Corolla Cross and Rav4, as well as the Volkswagen Polo, Nissan NP200 and Almera and Ford Ranger as being the most at-risk vehicles in 2023.