Criminal syndicates in Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, and Zimbabwe, as well as chop shops within our borders, are the biggest customers of stolen South African cars.
South Africa experiences on average 60 hijackings and 96 incidents of vehicle theft a day according to the police’s latest crime statistics, with these cars destined either for local chop shops or one of our African neighbours.
Crimes of this kind are largely driven by the principle of demand and supply, as per Fidelity Services Group.
Many legitimate vehicle owners in the country struggle to afford new parts directly from the original equipment manufacturer as these components have become prohibitively expensive in modern times, forcing them to seek other avenues to get their cars repaired.
While they may not actively sniff out stolen parts, they do look for cheaper suppliers who in turn are the ones purchasing thieved items from chop shops and syndicates, thus fueling the hijacking and theft of cars.
For example, Fidelity noted that models like the Toyota Fortuner and Hilux are often stolen for their reliable turbo-diesel engines and accompanying spares.
Keeping with the theme of demand and supply, new vehicles are generally highly expensive in poorer African nations, creating an opportunity for criminals to smuggle stolen autos across South African borders and sell them at a more affordable rate to citizens of their home country.
For example, Fidelity said stolen examples of the Toyota Corolla Cross and RAV4 are normally taken across the border as they are well-equipped to handle tough African conditions. The company highlighted that approximately 30% of all stolen and hijacked vehicles in 2023 were smuggled to one of South Africa’s northern neighbours.
Failed attempt to smuggle a stolen South African vehicle across the border using a makeshift steel bridge
Vehicle telemetry firm Cartrack provided a rather detailed breakdown of the hotspots used to traffic stolen vehicles across international borders.
To Botswana, they are regularly snuck through the Sikwane border located in the North West province, and to Mozambique, the criminals either go through KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) or Mpumalanga.
One failed incident this year showed that thieves have now started to build makeshift steel bridges to smuggle vehicles across a solid concrete fence separating the Umkhayakude village in northern KZN and Mozambique.
From Mpumalanga, the cars are simply driven over the border fence. The Club of Mozambique reports that Mozambican citizens have even seen South African Police escorting thieves across international lines.
Finally, vehicles taken in the Northern Cape are frequently moved through the Vioolsdrift crossing into Namibia; and those from Limpopo are ferried over the Limpopo River at low tide, or dragged across by donkeys, into Zimbabwe.
Once in these African nations, the stolen cars are often fitted with fake number plates and bootlegged across the border into Zambia.
Zambia is seen as the link to the rest of the continent as it shares its boundaries with eight other countries: Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe.
As a result, it is the main attraction for syndicates to traffic stolen vehicles in large quantities to different parts of Africa.
South Africa-Mozambique Border Wall
South Africa cracks down on car smugglers
As part of ongoing efforts to end the scourge of vehicle theft in South Africa, the KZN Department of Transport in September announced that it expects to complete the construction of a solid concrete wall on the South Africa-Mozambique border in early 2025.
The so-called “jersey barrier” in Manguzi, KZN, was first mooted in 2018 as a method to curb cross-border crime but has been dogged by a series of delays leaving it in a still-unfinished state as of October 2024.
“A new contractor was appointed after the previous contractor defaulted on his contractual obligation and the department had no option but to terminate the contract,” said KZN MEC Siboniso Duma, as quoted by BusinessDay.
He added that environmental studies also had to be completed to reduce the harm to the natural ecosystem in the area which contains several wetlands.
“There is great progress and we should be done, if everything goes accordingly, by next year. We are projecting the completion in the next few months,” said Duma.
The 25km jersey barrier is being constructed in three phases comprising:
- An 8km barrier from Gate 6 to Tembe Elephant Park.
- An 8km barrier from iSimangaliso Wetland Park to the west.
- A 9km barrier from Tembe Elephant Park towards the Phongolo River.
To date, approximately 7.4km of the first 8km stretch of wall has been erected with phase one of the project anticipated to wrap up in December 2024.
Just this small section has already delivered results.
“We have been able to limit the exporting of stolen cars and other goods through KZN and to Mozambique,” said Duma.
“Last year alone, 30 stolen vehicles a month crossed into Mozambique. This number has been reduced.”
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