Police minister Bheki Cele has revealed that carjackings increased 23.6% between July and September 2022, compared with the same period last year.
Truck hijackings increased by 36.8%, theft of motor vehicles and motorcycles were up by 13.9% and theft out or from a motor vehicle increased by 17.1%.
More than 6,000 carjacking crimes were reported to the police during the period.
A total of 356 vehicles were reported hijacked at the top three stations, Nyanga, Harare and Philippi East — all in the Western Cape. Kidnappings have doubled nationally with over 4,000 reported to the police between July and September 2022 with carjacking, robbery and rape the top three motives for kidnapping during the period.
Vehicle security and recovery specialists Tracker’s latest Vehicle Crime Index, which covers the period January to June, reveals that incident volumes have increased to pre-Covid-19 lockdown levels across the country.
According to Tracker, the rise in vehicle theft and hijackings can partly be attributed to increased vehicle usage after a return to work and more social events, as well as new modus operandi on the part of criminals and crime syndicates, such as keyless access theft.
The keyless access tactic involves a pair or team of criminals, one of whom could follow a vehicle owner as they walk away from a locked car. Using a relay amplifier, a criminal can amplify the transmitted signal received from the vehicle’s key fob to a criminal counterpart’s relay transmitter. The criminal counterpart can then gain access to the vehicle via the transmitter and drive away with it.
Most recent crime stats show a spike in vehicle hijackings
Image: nichcha1911 / 123rf
Police minister Bheki Cele has revealed that carjackings increased 23.6% between July and September 2022, compared with the same period last year.
Truck hijackings increased by 36.8%, theft of motor vehicles and motorcycles were up by 13.9% and theft out or from a motor vehicle increased by 17.1%.
More than 6,000 carjacking crimes were reported to the police during the period.
A total of 356 vehicles were reported hijacked at the top three stations, Nyanga, Harare and Philippi East — all in the Western Cape. Kidnappings have doubled nationally with over 4,000 reported to the police between July and September 2022 with carjacking, robbery and rape the top three motives for kidnapping during the period.
Vehicle security and recovery specialists Tracker’s latest Vehicle Crime Index, which covers the period January to June, reveals that incident volumes have increased to pre-Covid-19 lockdown levels across the country.
According to Tracker, the rise in vehicle theft and hijackings can partly be attributed to increased vehicle usage after a return to work and more social events, as well as new modus operandi on the part of criminals and crime syndicates, such as keyless access theft.
The keyless access tactic involves a pair or team of criminals, one of whom could follow a vehicle owner as they walk away from a locked car. Using a relay amplifier, a criminal can amplify the transmitted signal received from the vehicle’s key fob to a criminal counterpart’s relay transmitter. The criminal counterpart can then gain access to the vehicle via the transmitter and drive away with it.
Tracker provides the following advice on how to mitigate vehicle theft:
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