Tracker’s vehicle crime statistics for January to June 2025 reveal that business-owned vehicles are 48% more likely to be targeted than personally-owned vehicles. This trend is largely driven by hijackings, with notable shifts in both timing and location – Mpumalanga has emerged as a new hotspot, and incidents are increasingly occurring during the week rather than over weekends.
The Tracker Vehicle Crime Index aggregates information from Tracker’s more than 1.1 million subscriptions. The data indicates that business-owned vehicles experience 32% more crime than their proportion within the Tracker base, highlighting a significantly higher risk compared to personally-owned vehicles. The majority of this crime – 57% – occurs in Gauteng.
Business-owned vehicles range from cargo trucks with trailers to courier vehicles delivering items ordered online. Crime targeting these vehicles proves highly lucrative, with criminals acquiring the vehicle, the goods being transported and the driver’s personal belongings, e.g. mobile phone.
Nationally, hijackings of business-owned vehicles occur at nearly double the rate of thefts. Regionally, this trend becomes even more pronounced: in the Western Cape, business vehicle hijackings are five times more likely than theft; in the Eastern Cape, four times more likely; and in Mpumalanga, three times more likely. While the Western Cape and Eastern Cape were identified as hijacking hotspots last year, Mpumalanga has now joined the list.
Whereas most vehicle crime was previously reported over weekends, hijackings are now mainly reported on Thursdays between 4pm and 9pm. Theft continues to be most commonly reported on Saturdays between 11am and 4pm.
Regionally, the most prominent day and time for hijackings varies: Gauteng shows a tendency toward Tuesdays between 11am and 4pm; KwaZulu-Natal, Wednesdays from 4pm to 9pm; and the Western Cape, Wednesdays from 6am to 11am.
During the first half of 2025, the company recovered 3,671 vehicles, assisted in 146 arrests and helped recover 10 firearms.
“Crime trends change over time, and the shifting pattern of hijackings shows that they can happen anytime, anywhere, making it essential to remain alert to your surroundings,” says Duma Ngcobo, Chief Operating Officer at Tracker. “Businesses, in particular, can take proactive steps to mitigate risk by implementing technologies such as AI-powered fleet dashcams with facial recognition, 360-degree cameras, safe zone management, cargo door sensors, and emergency driver assist buttons. These tools enable fleet managers to respond swiftly to incidents. Additionally, subscribing drivers to rapid emergency armed response services can further enhance safety.”
