Hijacking of Ecommerce Delivery Services on the Increase in SA

The vehicle tracking group, Tracker, has warned that hijackers and other criminals are increasingly targeting delivery drivers in SA. Tracker feels that more hijacking will occur as ecommerce companies aim at same-day delivery services to meet growing demand, like Checkers 60/60 and Takealot which is trialling a 1-hour delivery service. The Tracker report noted that South African Police Service (SAPS) crime statistics has seen a slight decline in the percentage of truck or courier van hijackings as compared to the same quarter a year ago, but the total number of truck or courier van hijackings increased compared to the prior 3-month period and has been steadily increasing for the past few years. While South Africa is not alone in this trend, Tracker noted that criminal activity overseas tends to be more opportunistic – whereas targets in SA are premeditated, planned and systematic. SA also has to contend with the opportunities afforded to criminals by load shedding, where they gain the advantage of darkness and slow-moving traffic.