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South Africa’s porous borders have been blamed as criminals are targeting luxury vehicles and smuggling them in SADC countries.
Next-Gen Ranger Raptor with bold new design and power. Artwork by Ford
The Toyota Hilux, Fortuner, Etios and Yaris; Ford Ranger and Figo as well as the Nissan Navara are some of the vehicles that are being targeted by criminals in South Africa as hijacking is on the rise.
This is according to crime expert Calvin Rafadi who revealed this in an interview with eNCA this week.
During the interview, Rafadi said that criminals smuggle luxury vehicles such as SUV’s and 4X4’s to neighbouring countries working together with border patrol and police.
Rafadi said the criminals also fake insurance papers when passing the border and pay bribes.
He further revealed that criminals are paid in forex currency or by means of trade as some in Mozambique are reportedly paid in ephedrine.
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Security group Fidelity also reported that the vehicles often targeted are Toyota and Volkswagens, with targeted models including:
The South African Police Service (SAPS) listed the following stations as the top 10 hijacking hotspots:
Earlier this year, Fidelity SecureDrive recorded high levels of car hijackings and explained which vehicles are most commonly hijacked in SA. White or silver-grey Toyota Hiluxes and Volkswagen Polos are the most hijacked vehicles in the country.
Hijackings have reached record-high levels in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng. The likelihood of a person falling victim to a hijacking seems to increase based on numerous factors.
December, January, April and May have evidently been the highest risk periods. Furthermore, records of hijackings seem to indicate that the majority of hijackings took place on Thursday and Friday.
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