Police recover numerous stolen Toyotas in Pretoria township

The Tshwane flying squad recently recovered several high-end stolen Toyotas, worth more than half a million each, in Mamelodi.

The squad recovered a white stolen Toyota legend 50 in Mamelodi East Mahube valley, said police spokesperson Sergeant Alfred Legodi.

The vehicle was stolen in Boschkop policing precinct and was found abandoned in Mamelodi, Kgomotso Street.

“The vehicle is valued at R765 000. It was taken to Pretoria West pound for further investigation.”

A white Toyota Fortuner D4D with false registration was also recovered in Leeuwfontein (Marry Me Squatter Camp) in Mamelodi East, after the vehicle was stolen at Rietondale in the Moot.

He said the vehicle was valued at R700 000.

The other vehicles recovered were a dark Grey Toyota Hilux (also stolen in the Moot) valued at R850 000; a silver Toyota (valued at R700 000); and a white Toyota Fortuner (valued at R900 000), reported stolen in Wierdabrug, recovered at Nellmapius.

Legodi told Rekord that a group of syndicates was operating in the east side of Mamelodi.

Legodi said the flying squad estimated that they recovered on average about 10 different vehicles a month in the Pretoria east township.

They mostly recovered Toyota Fortuners and Toyota Hilux bakkies in addition to various makes of VW vehicles.

He said most of the vehicles recovered were part of recovery operations or were found abandoned.

Tarina Vlok, the managing director of Elite Risk Acceptances, said they had seen an increase in vehicle thefts with the majority of vehicles targeted being Toyotas.

Elite Risk Acceptances is a specialist high-net-worth insurer and subsidiary of Old Mutual Insure.

Vlok said recent crime stats showed a 7.7% increase in Pretoria.

Old Mutual Insure spokesperson Lizo Mnguni said their unit dealt with stolen and recovered vehicles and that over 400 high-end vehicles were stolen in 2022.

“A major concern for us is the keyless entry vehicles. Syndicates use relay devices to gain entry to a vehicle and then use the keyless start functionality.”

Mguni said syndicates were targeting high-end vehicles such as the Ford Ranger, Toyota Hilux, and Fortuner.

The Toyota GD6 range was also of particular interest to criminals.

“This is supported by the findings from our investigating units and business partners. Many of these stolen vehicles are moved across the border before they can be recovered.”

Their unit found that vehicles were being stolen from shopping malls, schools and religious gatherings.

Tracker COO Duma Ngcobo said according to their latest vehicle crime index for January to June 2022, Gauteng was South Africa’s vehicle crime hotspot.

It said theft incidents were back up to pre-Covid levels.

“This can partly be attributed to increased vehicle volumes post-Covid as we return to old routines as well as new modus operandi on the part of criminals and crime syndicates such as keyless access theft.

“Gauteng incident volumes have increased 10% from the last review period. Theft made up 48% of incidents and hijackings 52%.”

Ngcobo said most reported hijackings happened between midweek and Friday.

Most hijackings happened in the late afternoon until early evening between 16:00 and 20:00.

Thefts are most prevalent between 11:00 and 15:00. Theft volumes escalate on Saturdays.

Between January and June 2022, Tracker had recovered 3 110 vehicles. It made 273 arrests and recovered 19 firearms.

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