Vehicular crimes second only to murder

Vehicle crime in South Africa has been on the increase over the past three years and has a high report rate just below that of murder, according to the South African Detection Services Association (SAIDSA).

The Crime Survey has been adapted to cater for vehicle crimes due to the high reporting ratio against other forms of crime.

More than half of the households surveyed took physical protection measures for their homes, while slightly more than a third of vehicle owners took protection measures for their vehicles.

Vehicle theft is feared by an estimated 12,8 per cent of households polled, whereas hijacking is feared by 15 per cent of them.10 per cent of the households polled believe that theft of motor vehicles and hijacking are common occurrences, with theft ranked 9th and hijacking 10th in the list of most feared crimes in South Africa.

At least 90,9 per cent of vehicle thefts were reported to the police, while only 86,9 per cent of hijackings were reported. There has been a decline in the number of thefts of motor vehicles reported to the police from 2012 to 2015/ 2016 – 93,8 per cent of incidents were reported in 2012 and only 89,5 percent of incidents were reported in 2015/ 2016.

The number of hijacked vehicles reported to the police from 2012 to 2015/ 2016 has increased, from 80,6 per cent in 2012 to 86,9 per cent in 2015/ 2016. In 2013, however, a 100 per cent of hijackings were reported.

There has been a significant increase in the number of hijackings reported in South Africa during the period 2012 to 2015/ 2016, as follows:

• 2012 – 9 540

• 2013 – 9 988

• 2014 – 11 129

• 2015 – 12 773

• 2016 – 14 602

Motor vehicle theft statistics have decreased in the same period, as follows:

• 2012 – 59 120

• 2013 – 58 312

• 2014 – 56 616

• 2015 – 55 090

• 2016 – 53 809

Although there has been a significant reduction in vehicle theft, vehicle crime has become more violent. This can be contributed to increased vehicle safety measures being implemented in new vehicles and the keys that are required to operate the vehicles, which places vehicle owners at higher risk.

Combining the above statistics indicates that incidents of vehicle crime have been on the increase over the past three years, as follows.

• 2012 – 68 660

• 2013 – 68 300

• 2014 – 67 745

• 2015 – 67 863

• 2016 – 68 411

When asked why households did not always report motor vehicle theft incidents to the police in 2015/ 2016, 22,4 per cent of the respondents indicated that they had solved the incident themselves, and 54,1 per cent had solved the incident with the assistance of their families. A staggering 23,5 per cent indicated that they believe the police would not do anything about the incident.

In response to being asked what institutions other than the police householders reported vehicle theft incidents to, 6,4 per cent stated that they reported to Community Police Forums, 20,7 per cent reported to private security institutions and 68,3 per cent reported to their insurers.

9,3 per cent of householders reported hijacking incidents to traditional authorities, 12,2 per cent reported to private security institutions, 43,3 per cent reported to their insurers, and 35,3 per cent reported the incident to other organisations.

When asked about the locations from which vehicle thefts occurred in 2015/ 2016, 47,7 per cent of the respondents said incidents took place at home, 17 per cent occurred in parking lots, 15,4 per cent took place on the street in a residential area, 13,1 per cent occurred on the street in town, 5,3 per cent happened outside the office/ shops/ at work and 1,4 per cent were classified under other locations. A total of 52,2 per cent of vehicle thefts occurred away from home, which confirms past surveys and statistics released.

Taking the vehicle population in South Africa into consideration, the survey indicated that 49,7 per cent (34 013) of vehicle crimes (i.e. theft and hijacking combined) occurred in Gauteng, 16,32 per cent (11 166) occurred in KwaZulu-Natal and 15,2 per cent (10 410) occurred in the Western Cape. This information was derived from statistics released by the police.

When asked about the time frames in which vehicle theft incidents occurred, 45,8 per cent of respondents said at night, 33,1 per cent said during the afternoon, 18,1 per cent said in the morning hours and 3,1 per cent said they did not know.

The times and crime numbers can be broken down as follows:

• Midnight to 4am – 1 000

• 4am to 8am – 3 000

• 8am to 12 noon – 1 000

• 12 noon to 4pm – 2 000

• 4pm to 8pm – 5 000

• 8pm to midnight – 1 000

61,8 per cent of vehicle thefts occurred during the week and 38,2 per cent during weekends. These figures can be broken down to days on which incidents occurred as follows:

• Sunday – Approx 500 to 1 000

• Monday – Approx 1 000 to 1 500

• Tuesday – Approx 2 000 to 2 500

• Wednesday – Approx 1 500 to 2 000

• Thursday – Approx 1 500 to 2 000

• Friday – Approx 3 500 to 4 000

• Saturday – Approx 500 to 1 000

In 75,5 per cent of vehicular crimes, a firearm was used, in 32,2 per cent a knife was used, in 15,4 per cent an axe was used, in 13,8 per cent a metal object was used, and in 9,3 per cent of incidents a stick was used.

Through the Victims of Crime Survey it can be concluded that 9,2 per cent of South African households experienced at least one household type crime between 2015/ 2016.

It can be concluded by analysing previous surveys that thefts of motor vehicles and hijackings can be classified as organised crime. South Africa loses over R8,5billion to these crimes. Of the vehicles stolen, 57 per cent are taken across the border, 36 per cent filter back into South Africa as cloned vehicles and the rest land up in chop-shops. The contribution of real-time intelligence could help lower these statistics.

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