Hijacking highest in Gauteng – IAAT

There are typically two categories of vehicles being hijacked in South Africa, Rekord East reports.

This was according to the South African president of the International Association of Auto Theft Investigators (IAATI), Phillip Opperman.

Opperman said these two categories include commercial vehicles which are hijacked for the load, and high-value SUV vehicles which are hijacked according to the “order” placed by kingpin criminals.

The “order” is determined by the demand for that specific make and model in the stolen vehicle market.

He said Ford Rangers, Toyota Hilux and BMW X5s have been targeted according to past “orders”.

“However, there are not specific vehicles that are targeted by criminals,” he said.

“It all depends on the order.”

Opperman said Gauteng’s statistics are currently the highest in vehicles being hijacked, with Western Cape being second and KwaZulu-Natal third.

He said that there has also been an increase in the number of incidences in South Africa where hijacked motorists are held hostage and forced to withdraw money from an ATM.

“That is, unfortunately, [now part of] their modus operandi and there has been an increase this,” he said.