There has been a dramatic uptick in hijackings aimed at e-hailing and delivery app drivers in South Africa.
These apps have seen an explosion in popularity in over the last few years, which has unfortunately put them on the radar of criminal syndicates.
A dangerous job
E-hailing, food ordering, small goods, and freight delivery services have become a mainstay of everyday life owing to the convenience they provide consumers, but it has also created lucrative opportunities for hijackers who view these drivers as easy targets.
New data from the Road Freight Association (RFA) shows that hijackings and other crimes targeting the road freight industry have spiked dramatically in recent years.
These attempts have escalated to “mafia-style” operations intended to steal valuable cargo, according to RFA CEO Gavin Kelly.
The RFA’s operational incident index shows that carjacking attempts were up 50% per day in 2023 compared to 2021, and this upward trend has continued into 2024.
In June this year, road freight hijackings were as high as 65 cases per day, compared to 20 cases one year prior. The RFA reported similar figures in August, which experienced roughly 50 incidents per day.
Kelly explained that these are not the efforts of small-time criminals but of well-organized and dangerous syndicates.
RAM courier hijacking in Cape Town
Online shopping and home dispatch services are also affected by this plague, as they often carry smaller, valuable packages that can quickly be sold on the black market, according to BusinessTech.
These drivers are especially at risk as many are operating for smaller businesses that do not have the resources to assign security contractors or provide training to handle the risks associated with the job.
Larger courier services such as RAM and The Courier Guy, meanwhile, are being forced to spend significant amounts on protection services for their delivery vans, which can often take the form of armed escorts.
Craig Pitchers, CEO of The Courier Guy, said that the rising security costs are killing the company’s margins, making it difficult to remain profitable in South Africa’s hostile climate.
Another targeted group is ride-hailing and food order drivers, where criminals are using nasty methods to catch their victims unaware.
An increasingly popular tactic is for hijackers to pose as customers on apps such as Uber, Bolt, inDrive, Uber Eats, or Mr Delivery and order a ride or food drop-off to their location.
Once the operator arrives, they are quickly overpowered and their car or motorbike is stolen, often violently.
This pre-meditated strategy is particularly effective in residential areas in major cities like Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Pretoria, as drivers are likely to lower their guard and criminals can quickly disappear into the surrounding area.
The issue has become so prevalent for e-hailing drivers that unions in various provinces such as the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal have gone on strike demanding that something be done to improve safety conditions for its members.
A few of the suggested solutions put forth by various stakeholders across the transport industry include better law enforcement and improved tracking technology for operators’ vehicles.
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