{UAH} Car theft, hijackings cost SA R8.5bn

Car theft, hijackings cost SA R8.5bn

October 13 2014 at 04:06pm 
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Independent Newspapers.A hijacked car. Picture by: Sibonelo Ngcobo.

Johannesburg - Vehicles worth 8.5 billion rand were stolen in South Africa in the year through February 2013, according to the South African Insurance Crime Bureau.

Car hijacking made up 15 percent of the 66,360 cases of vehicle theft in the year, the SAICB said in an e-mailed report.

Of the vehicles stolen, 4.9 billion rand's worth of cars were taken out of the country, Hugo van Zyl, chief operating officer of the SAICB, said in the statement.

"Vehicle crime is a market-orientated crime impacting on the citizens of South Africa in many ways," Van Zyl said.

The "public are not only victims of vehicle hijackings and robberies, but also fall victim when they unknowingly purchase cloned stolen vehicles from syndicates."

South Africa is battling high levels of crime stoked by a 25 percent jobless rate and the fact that 31 percent of the population of 54 million live on less than 290 rand a month.

The murder rate, 6.7 times that of the US, rose to 32.2 per 100,000 people in the year through February 2014, police data released last month showed.

Car hijackings increased 11 percent to 11,129 in that year, the police said. - Bloomberg News

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Gwokto La'Kitgum

"Even a small dog can piss on a tall Building", Jim Hightower

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