A reported 21% decline in truck hijackings may reflect widespread under-reporting rather than a corresponding reduction in cargo crime, according to road freight operators.
The latest South African Police Service (SAPS) crime statistics show that 327 truck hijackings were reported between April and June 2026, down from 414 during the same period last year.
Gauteng recorded the highest number, with 219 cases, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 31 and Mpumalanga with 27. The Eastern Cape recorded 14 cases, North West 11, the Western Cape 10, the Free State and Limpopo seven each and the Northern Cape one.
Operators lose faith in reporting system
Road Freight Association (RFA) CEO Gavin Kelly told Freight News that any decline appears positive on paper but cautioned that the statistics depend on operators reporting every incident.
“Full reporting happens when faith in the criminal justice system prevails. It does not,” he said.
“There are many operators who no longer report incidents. They have given up on any real action by the SAPS, the apprehension and removal of those who perpetrate the crime and the closure of criminal rings involved.”
Kelly said the industry has experienced a prolonged erosion of trust in the police’s capacity to respond to and investigate cargo crime.
A further deterrent is the operational disruption operators could face when vehicles are taken into police custody for investigative purposes.
“Many operators are not interested in having their vehicles taken to the SAPS ‘evidence locker’,” he said.
“More often than not, vehicles are stripped, cargo ‘disappears’ and the operator loses the vehicle and the customer’s goods.”
Kelly said many hijackings are reported only because insurers require a case number. Self-insured operators might instead repair and return a vehicle to service as quickly as possible.
“A standing asset is worthless – in fact, it costs the operator,” he said.
Criminal syndicates have become more sophisticated and are increasingly targeting specific products and cargoes, Kelly added.
However, he acknowledged that progress has been made in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, particularly along the N3, in tackling “blue light gangs” and other criminals posing as police officers.
Hijacking and cargo theft nevertheless remain serious and costly threats to transporters.
According to the RFA’s monthly Vehicle Cost Index, average security costs increased from approximately 0.3% of vehicle operating costs 10 years ago to about 2.3% by the end of 2025.
For operations carrying high-risk cargo such as cash, electronics, fuel, spirits and medicines, security costs have risen to approximately 4.1% as operators are introducing more sophisticated anti-crime measures, Kelly said.
Positive Freight Solutions CEO Alex Hill also cautioned against interpreting the reported decline as evidence that the threat to transporters has eased.
“The exposure our members carry has not changed, the insurance market has not repriced and no operator we represent has reduced its security spend on the strength of this number,” he said.
Hill said attempted hijackings are seldom reported while cases in which a vehicle was recovered after its cargo was stolen could be classified as theft out of a motor vehicle rather than hijacking.
Operators might also absorb losses below their insurance excess rather than spend a day reporting an incident at a police station far from where they are based. Some drivers do not report incidents because they fear reprisals, he added.
“Vehicles are frequently recovered; convictions are rare. Syndicates operating with inside information about high-value loads are not deterred by the prospect of losing a truck they never owned,” Hill said.
Durban congestion heightens crime risk
Hill warned that congestion around the Port of Durban is increasing the exposure of trucks and cargo to crime. Vehicles could remain stationary for between four and 22 hours while waiting to collect a container, he said.
“A stationary truck is a target and a truck that is stationary at a known place, at a predictable time, for a predictable duration is a gift,” Hill pointed out.
“You cannot create thousands of hours of forced, unplanned stationary time in and around a port precinct and expect it to carry no criminal consequence. The congestion crisis at Durban and the crime exposure of the corridor are not separate stories.”
Hill said a single hijacking could force an owner-driver or small transport operator out of business.
He called for the establishment of a joint industry and SAPS task team to tackle criminal syndicates and address the difficulties operators encounter when reporting incidents or attempting to recover stolen cargo.
“These system failures make the cost to the supply chain skyrocket and, ultimately, increase the cost to the South African consumer,” Hill said.
