How has the lockdown affected vehicle crime?

Since the national lockdown commenced earlier this year, more and more people were either instructed to work from home or just remain home for their own safety and that of their colleagues. As the lockdown measures relaxed, a significant number of people returned to their usual daily routine while others that are capable remains working from home. Did the reduction of vehicles on the road affect vehicle crime statistics over the last year? Tracker a popular vehicle tracking service provider compiled a report from July 2019 to June 2020, in which it detailed that although there was a significant drop in vehicle crime over this period; hijacking occurrences were on the rise.

Gaining statistics from a vehicle base consisting of more than 1.1 million units, Tracker noted that before the national lockdown, vehicle crime activities rose nationally by 11 per cent year-on-year. More shockingly, hijacking increased by 21 per cent when compared to the year prior although vehicle theft remained similar to the previous year.

During level 5 restrictions, however, Tracker recorded national crime activities decline to 19 per cent of the usual average monthly crime statistics. This success was short-lived as in May 2020, vehicle crime activities increased to 62% of the monthly average whereas in June it was 93 per cent bringing it back to the usual levels. The aforementioned rise became prevalent as the country’s restrictions were lifted.

While vehicle theft experienced a reduction, hijacking saw an increase in recent months with a 56/44 split noted when compared to theft. In the months before the lockdown hijacking and theft were equal occurrences with a 50/50 split although last year theft was more common with a 45/55 split. Despite fewer people commuting to work or other commitments during level 3 lockdown, June 2020 hijacking numbers reached the same level as of June 2019.

The vehicle tracking company also noted that there is a slight shift regarding the day of week and time of day when hijacking is reported with Sundays and Mondays indicating slightly fewer occurrences than throughout the week from Tuesday to Saturday. While vehicle theft seems to happen more often during the weekend and during lunchtime hours, hijackings mostly take place in between 11 am to midnight.

Although hostage-taking still remains a daily occurrence locally, vehicle crime has seen an increase in vehicles targeted for their loads, particularly food items and fast-moving consumable goods as well as common valuables and sometimes large amounts of cash. Areas in which vehicle crimes take place remains somewhat similar to Gauteng recording the most instances with Johannesburg experiencing the most hijackings in the province.

This is followed by KwaZulu-Natal with Durban in the top spot, and the Western Cape with hijackings mainly occurring in Mitchells Plain. Further hijacking hotspots include eMalahleni in Mpumalanga, Ibhayi in the Eastern Cape, Rustenburg in the North West, Burgersfort in Limpopo, Bloemfontein in the Free State and Dikhing in the Northern Cape.

Tracker’s efforts to combat vehicle crime resulted in 5447 vehicle recoveries, 819 arrests and 39 firearms recovered for the twelve months from July 2019 to June 2020.

“With the latest statistics indicating that hijacking can happen on any day of the week and at any time, it is clear that criminals are taking advantage of opportunistic situations and it is therefore imperative to always remain vigilant. Make sure that your vehicle tracking device is in working order and make use of the features offered by your vehicle tracking service,” says Ron Knott-Craig, Executive: Operational Services at Tracker South Africa.