{"id":858069,"date":"2026-04-26T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=858069"},"modified":"2026-04-24T16:33:04","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T14:33:04","slug":"hijackers-have-changed-their-operating-hours-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/858069\/hijackers-have-changed-their-operating-hours-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Hijackers have changed their ‘operating hours’ in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

New data shows that the times of the day when most hijackings occur have shifted, with criminals now operating more frequently earlier in the week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Tracker\u2019s latest vehicle crime statistics, a vehicle can be stolen or hijacked on any day, but clear trends have emerged across its national footprint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tracker\u2019s vehicle crime statistics for January to June 2025 showed that hijackings were mainly reported on Thursdays between 16h00 and 21h00. However, this has shifted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tracker\u2019s vehicle crime statistics for July to December 2025 now show that hijackings are peaking on Tuesdays between 16h00 and 21h00. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theft of private vehicles continues to be most commonly reported on Saturdays between 11h00 and 16h00. When focusing specifically on business-owned vehicles, a slightly different pattern has emerged. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hijackings are more likely to occur on Wednesdays between 16h00 and 21h00, while theft of business-owned vehicles peaks on Fridays between 11h00 and 21h00.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite these concerning trends, the data also showed some positives. Tracker\u2019s Vehicle Crime Index revealed a notable slowdown in vehicle crime during December.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nationally, both theft and hijacking of private and business-owned vehicles declined over the festive period, with overall vehicle crime dropping by around 30% compared to preceding months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is largely driven by a 35% decrease in the theft of business-owned vehicles. Tracker attributed this decline to changes in routine behaviour at the end of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With schools closing, businesses slowing down, and many people going on holiday, there are fewer predictable commuting patterns and less commercial activity for criminals to exploit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Tracker added that this national trend does not apply uniformly across all regions. Gauteng, which consistently records the highest volume of vehicle crime, followed the overall pattern and saw a decline in December.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

KwaZulu-Natal, by contrast, maintains relatively stable levels of vehicle crime during the same period. The Western Cape showed a more complex picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hijacking incidents remain alarmingly high <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While crime involving privately owned vehicles decreases in line with the national trend, the province experiences a spike in crime involving business-owned vehicles in December.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both hijacking and theft increase, likely driven by opportunistic crime in busy tourist areas where hospitality activity and deliveries continue through the festive season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tracker\u2019s findings align broadly with police data, which shows that vehicle crime typically declines in the final quarter of the year across most provinces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the latest crime statistics for the third quarter of 2025, covering October to December, recorded 4,778 carjackings across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That works out to an alarming 50 hijackings every day, underscoring the scale of a crime trend that remains deeply entrenched in South Africa\u2019s major metros.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SAPS data showed that Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape recorded the highest number of hijackings, while the Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga are beginning to close the gap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The statistics also showed that sedans, hatchbacks and coupes remain the most frequently targeted vehicles, with bakkies and panel vans not far behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Business-owned vehicles are also at higher risk of hijacking, with hijackings occurring roughly twice as often as thefts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For privately owned vehicles, theft is slightly more common, accounting for 52% of incidents compared to 48% for hijackings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tracker said it continues to play a key role in combating vehicle crime. In the second half of 2025 alone, the company recovered 3,590 vehicles, assisted in 127 arrests and helped recover 12 firearms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhile the numbers may reduce over the holiday period, it\u2019s essential to remain alert to your surroundings \u2013 crime hasn\u2019t stopped,\u201d said Duma Ngcobo, Chief Operating Officer at Tracker. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhile on holiday, live in the moment, but be mindful that threats to your wellbeing can arise anywhere and at any time. Remaining vigilant could make all the difference.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New data shows that the day of the week when most hijackings occur have shifted in South Africa. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":858071,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[12867,853,24101],"class_list":["post-858069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-fidelity-adt","tag-south-africa","tag-tracker-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/858069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=858069"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/858069\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":858098,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/858069\/revisions\/858098"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/858071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=858069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=858069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=858069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}