Cargo crimes in SA: no big surprise

Cargo crimes are commonplace in South Africa and, while many still make headlines, no one is surprised to read the articles…

In February 2022, police intercepted a gang of 25 gunmen as they were planning to hijack a cash-in-transit vehicle. Ten suspects were shot dead, eight were arrested, five police officers were injured, two more were airlifted to hospital, and a helicopter pilot was also shot and injured during the gunfire. Police later recovered five stolen vehicles used by the suspects, AK47 automatic weapons with double magazines, and assault rifles as well as explosives.

Welcome to South Africa.

Cargo crimes on this scale and of this severity still make headlines but cause little surprise, especially among the supply chain community, which has become accustomed to such threats.

According to a spokesman for the Transported Asset Protection Association (TAPA) Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) Regional Team, the biggest cargo risk areas remain along the N3 motorway between Durban and Johannesburg. The epicentre of cargo crime is still Gauteng province, out of where many crime groups and syndicates operate, and where there is infrastructure to dispose of stolen goods.

In South Africa all types of cargoes are targeted, but electronics remain a favourite focus due to their street “saleability” and black market demand at the right price. Products stolen in cargo hijackings in other provinces will often also find their way back to Gauteng to be sold or moved to neighbouring countries. As well as truck hijackings, another serious problem remains attacks on warehouse operations to steal a variety of products, as well as the use of false paperwork to defraud and steal from cargo facilities.

“Trojan Horse” attacks

“We continue to see a high level of violence used in supply chain incidents. These include so-called ‘Trojan Horse’ attacks where up to 15 armed criminals may invade a warehouse and overpower security services and security devices. In many of these crimes there is a strong suggestion of insider collusion. It is certainly a fact that companies which limit opportunities for insider threats, or which are quick to expose those involved, are far more effective in deterring crime,” the TAPA spokesman says.

The last six to seven years have seen police reports of around 1 200 to 1 300 truck hijackings per year across South Africa. South African Police Service (SAPS) statistics for 2020/21 up to the end of March last year, however, showed a bigger increase over the previous reporting year, up 16,2% to 1 397 hijackings.

Thefts from smaller vans carrying electronics such as phones are reported as a different type of crime in the SAPS system to truck hijackings, which also influences the accuracy of the data.

Lack of reporting

Very few of the cargo crimes in South Africa are being reported to TAPA EMEA’s Incident Information Service (IIS), which increases the difficulty of obtaining true figures. “This may be because so many of the companies suffering cargo attacks are not TAPA EMEA members, but it may also reflect the fact that the red tape involved in reporting losses officially in South Africa makes the entire process very slow. The length of time taken by police to release vehicles after a reported cargo crime also deters many victim companies merely from reporting cargo crimes to SAPS,” the spokesman comments.

Sourcing incident data has been an ongoing challenge for many years, especially getting companies to share information. The Association stresses that companies need to buy into the value of reporting cargo crime and take the lead if they want to affect the bigger picture of crime prevention in South Africa. “There has to be a greater understanding that the same gang that hit one neighbouring company may well return to attack you in the coming weeks,” the TAPA spokesman explains. “No one in the community is any the wiser if they don’t have intelligence on what to look out for.”