After a spate of hijackings on British American Tobacco Company SA (Batsa) vehicles, the company has finally responded.
The long list of hijackings spreads across the country, in particular, two in the space of two days in June this year.
In Honeydew eight men hijacked a Batsa vehicle on 23 June, where the vehicle was forced off the road by three vehicles, a white Isuzu bakkie, a white Corsa bakkie and a charcoal Audi A4.
On 24 June another hijacking took place in Melville.
The Batsa representative was inside the store when the six hijackers, armed with 9mm pistols and two assault rifles, overpowered the Fidelity Guards who were escorting the vehicle.
A statement released by Brian Finch, managing director of Batsa stated, “In our case, the product is of high value and this in part, has led to an unacceptable rate of hijackings carried out with almost military precision. While we acknowledge that we operate in a controversial industry, our company takes its role as a responsible corporate citizen seriously.”
Finch further added, “The establishment of a joint task force that invests in innovative crime prevention technologies and information sharing… could ultimately make the targeting of vehicles from the fast moving consumer goods sector, much less attractive to hijackers.”
It goes on to suggest that a concerted effort must be made with law enforcement and other entities to ”tackle the master minds of crime.”
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