South Africa has seen a huge increase in diversion activities since before Covid, and the situation has deteriorated further over the past 12 months.
The latest crime figures through Police Minister Bheki Cele on Friday 17 February paint a grim picture of safety and security in South Africa.
In addition to rising levels of violent crime, and in specific murders claiming 74 deaths per day in 2022, the country has noticed crime levels across the board.
Cele said the figures “do not paint an overall positive picture of the crime scene in our country,” but insisted that paints are being done to replace the scenario.
“Police are reducing crime through visual surveillance and disruptive operations. Clearly, more boots on the floor wasn’t just a slogan, its effect has been felt and is starting to make a difference in our communities,” he said.
However, one domain in which the police seem to be wasting the battle is that of kidnappings, which have levels above 30% in 2019, before the covid pandemic hit.
Quarterly knowledge constitutes the crimes reported between October and December 2022, which added to the knowledge from 4Q21/22 to 3Q22/23, provide a complete picture of the crime for calendar year 2022.
In the 2019 calfinishar year, South Africans reported 17,777 kidnappings, an average of around 49 hijacked cars per day. By the end of 2022, that number had risen to 23,025 car hijackings, a 30% increase, with an average of 63 cars consistently stolen. with dia
Measuring this as a rate equivalent to another 100,000 people in the country, car hijackings fell from 30. 2 (equivalent to 100,000 in 2019) to 37. 7.
While SAPS quarterly data shows a marginal year-on-year accumulation of 2. 8% more car hijackings compared to the third quarter of 2021/22 (5608 cases instead of 5455), considering that the full calendar year shows a 15% accumulation in deviations in 2022 compared to 2021.
The following table presents knowledge over five years.
As with most categories of crime tracked through SAPS, car thefts are most prevalent in the most populated areas of South Africa, such as Gauteng, Western Cape and KwaZulu Natal.
In particular, Gauteng has noted a reduction in kidnappings in the last quarter; However, it still ranks as the worst province in the country for the number of kidnappings it suffers. The province has recorded 2632 cases, more than 3 times the number of cases in the Western Cape.
While emerging from a declining base, the Eastern Cape has noted a significant increase in cases, up nearly 47% from the same quarter in 2021.
Considering the annual data, the picture is heartbreaking, for Gauteng.
Based on an already higher base, the province experienced a 12. 1% increase in kidnappings to 11,626 cases in 2022. That’s an average of 32 vehicle thefts per day in the province. , is a rate of 71. 7 detours.
It is particularly higher than in the other provinces.
The following table presents the knowledge of the calendar year for the provinces:
Looking at the more granular knowledge of the station for the last quarter, Gauteng has the worst concentration of kidnappings in the country, Nyanga in the Western Cape being the district with the highest number of kidnappings, with a figure jumping 26. 4% from an already higher base.
Olievenhoutbosch in Gauteng remains the worst position in the province, while Kwazakele ranks first in the Eastern Cape. Umlazi in KZN is the worst position in the province, despite its 12th position overall.
In terms of hijacking targets, most of the hijacked cars are sedans and hatchbacks, followed by bakkies and SUVs.
This information is so surprising, given that these are the most common cars on the roads.
Private security reports in 2022 fall into those general categories. Fidelity ADT and Tracker have warned in the past that the following cars are headed to South Africa:
Security experts also warned of a developing trend of kidnappings in South Africa, and previous knowledge of SAPS seems to indicate that a portion of reported kidnappings are related to kidnappings.
These are cases where criminals try to make the most of their victims during a kidnapping by sequencing them and forcing them to withdraw money or give away more pieces in exchange for their safety.
Read: Violent crime in South Africa is getting worse: these are all the latest statistics
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