WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2007-12-04 Time: 00:00:00 Posted By: Jan
By Bronwyn Gerretsen
There is not a single make of car in KwaZulu-Natal that is safe from hijackers and, on average, almost 70 vehicles are hijacked every week.
Figures from the latest crime statistics show that 3 562 hijackings took place in the province from April 2006 to March this year, and vehicle tracking companies have warned that it is not only luxury vehicles that are being targeted.
Also, more than half of the hijackings occur when people arrive or leave home.
| With 203 hijackings, Pinetown tops the list |
According to the statistics, the northern and southern Durban regions have the highest rate of hijackings. Of the 3 562 hijackings, 1 127 occurred in the area north of Durban and 1 614 in southern Durban.
With 203 hijackings, Pinetown tops the list. This is closely followed by Isipingo with 199 hijackings and Umlazi with 185. In Chatsworth, 153 hijackings took place.
Durban central, which falls under the category of north of Durban, had the most hijackings in this area with 165, while Empangeni, which falls under the Umfolozi region, also recorded a high number with 168.
KwaZulu-Natal recorded the second highest number of hijackings in 2006/07, after Gauteng, which had 6 951 cases.
The statistics also show that, since 2001/02, KwaZulu-Natal is one of only two provinces to have had an increase in the number of hijackings, with an increase of 25,5 percent.
| This is the most basic vehicle you can buy on the South African market |
The other is the Western Cape with an increase of 14,9 percent.
The Nissan 1400 bakkie is still one of the most targeted vehicles.
Some vehicle tracking companies declined to give a detailed breakdown of the types of vehicles popular for hijackings because only about 15 percent of the licensed vehicle population have tracking devices installed. Their statistics would, therefore, not give a true reflection of the situation in South Africa, they said.
However, the general consensus was that bakkies, entry-level sedans, luxury vehicles and 4x4s were popular targets. The South African Police Service concurred with these statistics.
Police spokesperson Phindile Radebe said Nissan 1400 bakkies, VW Golfs and 4x4s were the most common targets for hijackers.
Toyota Hi-Ace and Siyaya vehicles consistently top Altech Netstar’s list of popular hijack and theft vehicles because of their attractiveness to the minibus taxi industry.
The company’s regional manager for KwaZulu-Natal, John Taylor, said bakkies made by Toyota, Isuzu and Nissan were the next on the list. In particular, the Nissan 1400 bakkie was a common target, he said.
“This is the most basic vehicle you can buy on the South African market and is easy to break into… in some cases they are stolen for their parts but are also easily recycled because of their popularity,” he said.
In the sedan category, VWs and Toyotas were “hot favourites”, while luxury sedans and 4x4s were hijacked mainly as a result of “orders”.
Taylor added that, in many instances, the age of the vehicle was not important because, apart from the luxury vehicle and 4×4 categories, most of these vehicles ended up in chop shops.
Gareth Crocker, a spokesperson for Tracker, said South Africa had a culture of people driving vehicles they were not able to maintain with original manufacturer parts, hence the lure of buying parts on the black market. This fuelled further thefts and hijackings.
Statistics from Matrix vehicle tracking showed that trucks and light delivery vehicles generally topped its list of most popular vehicle types stolen in the province.
Matrix’s chief technical officer, Richard Timm, said trucks were mostly stolen for the cargo they carried.
Luxury 4x4s and new bakkies are most likely to be “exported” to Mozambique because of their capability of traversing rough terrain.
Among the least likely vehicles to be hijacked is the Hyundai brand, as there are not that many on the road compared with other brands. However, once the popularity of this vehicle grows, older vehicles could become targets.