{"id":863273,"date":"2026-06-14T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=863273"},"modified":"2026-06-12T16:01:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T14:01:11","slug":"historic-area-known-as-the-dark-city-now-the-top-hijacking-hotspot-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/863273\/historic-area-known-as-the-dark-city-now-the-top-hijacking-hotspot-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Historic area known as the ‘Dark City’ now the top hijacking hotspot in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

New crime statistics from the South African Police Service (SAPS) show that Alexandra in Johannesburg has emerged as South Africa\u2019s leading hijacking hotspot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the latest SAPS crime data, 3,609 carjackings were reported between January and March 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This works out to roughly 40 hijackings a day in South Africa. However, this is a 20.4% reduction in reported hijackings compared to the same period in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Between January and March 2025, the SAPS received 4,533 reports of hijackings in South Africa, which is roughly 50 incidents every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, while the country as a whole has experienced a drop in hijackings, more granular data shows that some areas saw significant increases in incidents.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eldorado Park in Gauteng recorded a 109.5% year-on-year increase, with reported cases rising from 21 to 44.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kempton Park saw an 80.6% increase, while Rietgat in Pretoria recorded a 72% rise, and Protea experienced a 50% increase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In terms of total reported cases, Kempton Park ranked third nationally with 56 hijackings between January and March 2026, behind Delft in Cape Town with 61 cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alexandra topped the list with 63 reported hijackings over the three-month period, averaging roughly two hijackings every three days. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Alexandra Police Station serves the township and the neighbouring industrial and commercial areas of Marlboro and Wynberg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The station is responsible for policing one of South Africa\u2019s most densely populated and historically significant urban communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Established in 1912, Alexandra, commonly known as Alex, is one of the country\u2019s oldest townships. It was founded by wealthy farmer H.B. Papenfus, who named the settlement after his wife, Alexandra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Situated only a few kilometres from Sandton, Johannesburg\u2019s affluent financial hub, the township occupies around eight square kilometres and is home to more than 400,000 residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the 1930s, its population grew rapidly from around 5,000 residents to nearly 50,000. As the settlement expanded, white authorities and neighbouring affluent communities increasingly viewed it with hostility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Dark City<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The township became known as the \u201cDark City\u201d, a nickname that came from decades of deliberate municipal neglect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While surrounding white suburbs benefited from infrastructure development and street lighting, Alexandra was denied many basic services, revealing a dark, unlit city after sunset. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first house in Alexandra was only connected to the electricity grid in the early 1970s, and parts of the township remained without adequate lighting well into the 2000s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alexandra also holds a special place in South African history as the first home of Nelson Mandela after he moved to Johannesburg from the Eastern Cape in the 1940s. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, Alexandra faces persistent challenges linked to violent crime, including vehicle hijackings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Findings from the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC)\u2019s Alexandra Inquiry have highlighted the impact of overcrowding, infrastructure shortcomings and policing constraints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The township is serviced by a single police station, and police officials have previously acknowledged that limited resources and staffing shortages hamper proactive policing efforts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Public inquiries have also pointed to organised criminal activity operating within the area. E-hailing drivers and delivery riders have been identified as particularly vulnerable targets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Criminals have been known to use ride requests to lure drivers into certain areas before carrying out robberies and hijackings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Research published in the Technium Social Sciences Journal has further linked hijacking activity in Alexandra to networks involving illegal firearms, unregistered mechanics and illicit scrapyards that can quickly dismantle and alter stolen vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

National SAPS data shows that hatchbacks and sedans remain the most commonly targeted vehicles, accounting for 1,595 hijackings during the first quarter of 2026. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bakkies were the second-most-targeted category, with 1,168 cases, followed by motorcycles with 297 incidents.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New crime statistics show that one of Johannesburg’s historic areas is now the number one hijacking hotspot in South Africa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":863345,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[10150,853,5784],"class_list":["post-863273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-hijacking","tag-south-africa","tag-south-african-police-service-saps"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863273","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=863273"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863273\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":863349,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863273\/revisions\/863349"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/863345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=863273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=863273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=863273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}