Increase in vehicle crimes since start of lockdown level 4
“Vehicle crimes are set to rise even further, back to the same levels or even higher as South Africans return to work and criminals resume operations.”
The first week of level 4 lockdown restrictions has seen an increase in vehicle crimes, following a significant drop at the beginning of lockdown in March, said Tracker SA.
“While South Africa experienced a significant drop in vehicle crimes during level 5, activities are returning to normal levels as restrictions are being lifted.”
Preliminary police reports noted a drop in so-called “trio crimes” (car and truck hijackings, business robberies and house robberies).
These crimes dropped to 2 098 in the first week of the lockdown from 8 853 during the same period in 2019.
Data recorded from the company’s 1.1 million installed vehicle base revealed a 90% reduction in the number of vehicle recovery activities during the first week of the lockdown compared to average weekly vehicle recovery activities pre-lockdown.
“Vehicle crime activities are increasing as the country’s restrictions are being lifted. During the lockdown extension, the number of vehicle recovery activities increased nearly three-fold compared to the first week of lockdown,” the tracking company said.
“The first week of level 4 restrictions has seen vehicle recovery activities more than double compared to the lockdown extension figures, representing a six-fold increase from the first week of lockdown to figures that are now only 35% lower than pre-lockdown averages.”
Tracker said vehicle crime activities are set to rise even further, back to the same levels or even higher as South Africans return to work and criminals resume their operations.
“Interestingly, during the first three weeks of lockdown, hijackings attributed a higher percentage of vehicle recovery activities compared to theft. The pre-Covid-19 average for hijackings and theft was a 50/50 split.
“The initial lockdown period saw an average 63/37 split in favour of hijackings. This returned to a more even split during the extended lockdown period where Tracker noticed an increase in vehicle movement with more citizens on the road as regulations were eased.”
Tracker SA said the slant towards hijackings during lockdown is most likely an opportunistic tactic with criminals preying on vehicles out in the open, while most other vehicles would have been securely locked away.
Further crime trends noted by Tracker include a noticeable increase in vehicles being targeted for their loads, particularly food items and fast-moving consumable goods.
“Clients are also being robbed of their valuables and, in some instances, large amounts of cash.
“The decrease in vehicle crime activities during lockdown can be attributed to fewer vehicles on the road and a higher presence of law enforcement,” executive operational services at Tracker SA, Ron Knott-Craig said.
“However, we are already seeing a rise in criminal activities as vehicle movement increases and we expect to get back to pre-Covid-19 vehicle crime levels, possibly as early as this week. Like the rest of the country, criminals are resuming their activities under eased restrictions. Under last week’s level 4 restrictions, we recovered a vehicle in partnership with law enforcement, which was being moved across a transnational border.”
Knott-Craig said South Africans should be particularly vigilant as day-to-day life returns to normal.
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