Top Carjacking Provinces in South Africa

Carjacking refers to the crime of taking of a motor vehicle from its driver by force, violence, or intimidation. Carjackers are often thought by the public to target older persons, women, and tourists—groups of conspicuous vulnerability. The makes and models of the cars targeted for carjacking vary from city to city, and it is not only the expensive, top-of-the-line cars that are taken but also older and less pricey automobiles. This may be because carjackings are more crimes of opportunity than of premeditation. Carjackers simply wait for an unaware driver, an open window, or an unlocked door

Western Cape

Carjacking in the Western Cape has become so prevalent that habitants suggest that it is not safe to stop at traffic lights due to the high risk of carjacking. Therefore it is recommended that you do rolling stops instead of actually coming to a complete stop at stop signs and traffic lights. Cities that have the highest risk of carjacking are Cape Town Central, Stellenbosch, Mitchells Plain and Bellville.

Gauteng

Gauteng is known as the capital of carjacking. According to reports there were 5 000 car hijackings in 2013 in Gauteng compared with 5 936 the previous year. Sadly most of these carjacking incidents end in murder. The most recent case being the hijacking and killing of a 3year old in Eldorado Park. The story sent shock waves across the country. Cities that are known as high risk areas are Suunyside Pretoria, Pretoria Central, Honeydew in Johannesburg and Sandton.

Free State

One would think that small cities and towns such as Bloemfontien in the Free State would not be mentioned in high ranking crimes. However, Free State is one of the provinces in which the crime of carjacking has been on an increase each year. One of the most recent reports is of two criminals who were being hunted down by the police on the accounts of carjacking and stabbing a person at Vaalpark Shopping Centre, Sasolburg, in Free State. The suspects forced the victim to jump into his bakkie and they drove off with him to R59 road towards Parys. The victim managed to distract one of the suspects by grabbing the steering wheel. The suspects then stabbed the victim 23 times. They made their getaway after being picked up by an unidentified car. Park Road is identifies as one of the carjacking hot spots in the Free State.

Mpumalanga

Aside from murder, reports show that carjacking figures have raised concerns in Mpumalanga.