10 worst areas for hijacking in South Africa – and the cars being targeted
Despite South Africa having seen a meagre decrease in hijackings year-on-year, some provinces experienced bigger jumps in hijackings than others.
Presenting the latest quarterly crime statistics for the fourth quarter of 2023/24 and the first quarter of 2024/25 – January to June 2024 – the South African Police Service (SAPS) noted that 10,776 cars were hijacked over the six-month period.
This is only a 0.9% decrease compared to the first six months of 2023. However, this equates to approximately 60 cars being stolen daily, which is still a notable concern.
This number gets even worse when you include the incidents that go unreported.
This was revealed in the latest Victims of Crime (VoC) survey, which looks at crimes through the victim’s experience, including the significant number of crimes that go unreported in South Africa.
Surprisingly, the number of hijackings has declined by double-digits, decreasing by 28.9%.
However, this decline is from 114,000 incidents to 81,000, meaning the number of hijackings per day decreased from 312 to 222, which is still alarmingly high.
According to the SAPS, for the most recent quarter (Q1 2024/25), two provinces experienced a notable year-on-year increase (>10%) in hijackings: the Eastern Cape (30%) and the Western Cape (17%).
Interestingly, Kwa-Zulu Natal and Limpopo saw a 12.9% decrease in carjackings, followed by Mpumalanga (-5.2%).
Carjackings are most prevalent in South Africa’s most populous regions, such as Gauteng, KwaZulu Natal, and the Western Cape.
Over the six months in 2024, Gauteng saw 5,163 hijackings, representing 48% of all carjackings. The Western Cape experienced 1,613 carjackings, and Kwa-Zulu Natal saw 1,512.
Looking at more granular station data for Q1 2024/25, the Western Cape has the most hijackings per region, with Nyanga in Cape Town having the most cases.
Germiston in Ekurhuleni, Gauteng, had the highest increase in reported cases, rising by 69% compared to last year.
Below are the top hijacking hotspots across the most populated provinces for the most recent quarter (April to June).
Gauteng:
- Orange Farms
- Ivory Park
- Eldorado Park
- Pretoria West
- Germiston
Kwa-Zulu Natal:
- Newlands East
- Umlazi
Western Cape:
- Nyanga
- Harare
- Philippi East
- Delft
- Khayelitsha
Targeted vehicles
Over the course of the past 12 months, Fidelity ADT identified roughly 13 vehicle models that have stood out as hijacking favourites across South Africa.
These cars, in no particular order, are:
- Ford Ranger;
- Hyundai i20;
- Nissan Almera
- Nissan NP200;
- Toyota Corolla Cross;
- Toyota Corolla;
- Toyota Etios;
- Toyota Fortuner (GD6 and D4D);
- Toyota Hilux (GD6 and D4D);
- Toyota Prados;
- Toyota Land Cruisers;
- Toyota RAV 4; and
- VW Polo (especially hatchbacks).
While most of these targets are cars that are among the most popular on the roads of South Africa, which are also popular in the rest of Africa, such as the Hilux and Polo, three cars stand out.
These are the Nissan Almera, Nissan NP200, and Toyota Etios, all of which have been discontinued in South Africa.
The discontinuation of once-popular cars has resulted in a shortage of spare parts, making them a popular target for hijackers.
Cartrack, a prominent car-tracking company, agreed and said that the theft of car components has become more widespread than the theft of entire vehicles.
It added that the lucrative trade value of illegal chop shops and stolen car parts is estimated at about R442 million.
Fidelity ADT’s observations revealed a trend in car thefts targeting popular hatchbacks and bakkies.
This trend is also supported by the SAPS’ latest data, which showed that sedans, hatchbacks, and coupes make up 2,511 of the vehicles hijacked, followed by bakkies and panel vans with 1,695 hijackings.
These vehicle segments represented 46.2% and 31.2% of all the hijacked cars over the most recent quarter.
Read: Insurers now insist on two tracking devices as hijacking claims skyrocket in South Africa
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