40 cars are hijacked in South Africa every day

An average of 40 hijackings take place in South Africa every day, with more than half of cases taking place in a single province.

This is according to the South Africa Police Service’s latest crime statistics for the fourth and final quarter of the 2025/2026 period, which recorded 3,609 carjackings.

These incidents took place over the 90-day period from January to March 2026, equating to an average of 40.1 hijackings per day.

While this figure is still alarmingly high, the silver lining is that carjackings dropped by 20.4% compared to the same three-month period the year before.

A total of 4,533 cases were recorded between January and March 2025, translating to roughly 50 hijackings per day.

Truck hijackings dropped from 359 to 357 incidents, and cash-in-transit heists declined from 35 to 31 cases.

Looking at the provincial level, Gauteng had more cases than most of the other provinces combined with 2,062 reported carjackings, 57.13% of the national total.

This was followed by the Western Cape with 498 incidents, and KwaZulu-Natal with 446 incidents. In contrast, the provinces with the lowest reports include the Free State and Northern Cape with 32 and 6 cases, respectively.

These were the statistics for each province:

1. Gauteng – 2,062
2. Western Cape – 498
3. KwaZulu-Natal – 446
4. Mpumalanga – 212
5. Eastern Cape – 189
6. North West – 106
7. Limpopo – 58
8. Free State – 32
9. Northern Cape – 6

Differences in hijacking across provinces are to be expected, as they generally correlate with each province’s population size.

Shifting focus to the carjackings reported at individual police stations, these were the top 30 hotspots nationwide between January and March 2026.

1. Alexandra, Gauteng – 63
2. Delft, Western Cape – 61
3. Kempton Park, Gauteng – 56
4. Lingelethu-West, Western Cape – 54
5. Umlazi, KZN – 52
6. Ivory Park, Gauteng – 47
7. Eldorado Park, Gauteng – 44
8. Bramley, Gauteng – 43
9. Lenasia, Gauteng – 43
10. Jeppe, Gauteng – 41
11. Harare, Western Cape – 40
12. Mamelodi East, Gauteng – 40
13. Protea, Gauteng – 36
14. Tembisa, Gauteng – 35
15. Pretoria East, Gauteng – 35
16. Ennerdale, Gauteng – 35
17. Akasia, Gauteng – 34
18. Moroka, Gauteng – 33
19. Honeydew, Gauteng – 32
20. Olievenhoutbosch, Gauteng – 32
21. Rietgat, Gauteng – 31
22. Silverton, Gauteng – 31
23. Witbank, Mpumalanga – 31
24. Vosloorus, Gauteng – 31
25. Nyanga, Western Cape – 31
26. Cosmo City, Gauteng – 29
27. Bedfordview, Gauteng – 29
28. Alberton, Gauteng – 28
29. Midrand, Gauteng – 28
30. Khayelitsha, Western Cape – 27

Gauteng features 23 of the 30 police stations that recorded the most carjackings in South Africa over the monitored period.

These were the top three police stations for hijackings per province:

Gauteng Police Stations

1. Alexandra – 63 hijackings
2. Kempton Park – 56 hijackings
3. Ivory Park – 47 hijackings

Western Cape Police Stations

1. Delft – 61 hijackings
2. Lingelethu – 54 hijackings
3. Harare – 40 hijackings

KwaZulu-Natal Police Stations

1. Umlazi – 52 hijackings
2. Inanda- 20 hijackings
3. Ntuzuma – 19 hijackings

Mpumalanga Police Stations

1. Witbank – 31 hijackings
2. Vosman – 25 hijackings
3. Delmas – 17 hijackings

Eastern Cape Police Stations

1. Kwazakele – 25 hijackings
2. New Brighton – 23 hijackings
3. Kwadwesi – 12 hijackings

North West Police Stations

1. Brits – 14 hijackings
2. Mooinooi – 14 hijackings
3. Hebron – 7 hijackings

Limpopo Police Stations

1. Malamulele – 5 hijackings
2. Giyani – 5 hijackings
3. Thohoyandou – 4 hijackings

Free State Police Stations

1. Sasolburg – 4 hijackings
2. Thabong – 4 hijackings
3. Virginia – 3 hijackings

Northern Cape Police Stations

1. Kagisho – 3 hijackings
2. Mothibistad – 2 hijackings
3. Postmasburg – 1 hijacking