SATC paper reveals that South Africa’s national roads are becoming crime corridors

New research presented at the 44th Southern African Transport Conference (SATC) in Pretoria has revealed that South Africa’s national roads have become hunting grounds, with crime hotspots forming in major metros and on freight corridors nationwide.

South Africa’s road safety crisis may be even more complex than previously understood. It is not only reckless driving, vehicle defects, speeding or poor enforcement that are placing road users at risk. Criminals are now exploiting the road network itself.

A paper delivered at the 44th Southern African Transport Conference (SATC) in Pretoria has highlighted the growing threat of road-based crime on South Africa’s national roads. The research, titled Road-Based Crimes on the National Road Network: An Initial Investigation, was authored by Marion Sinclair, Hubrecht Ribbens, Elna Fourie, Karien Venter, Christoff Krogscheepers, Elize de Beer and John Sampson, and forms part of broader research by the South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) into driver behaviour and road safety.

Its central finding is alarming: crimes such as car hijackings (carjackings), truck hijackings, cash-in-transit robberies, shootings and smash-and-grabs are not merely isolated law enforcement problems. They are recurring transport safety issues too.

Crime is changing the road safety equation

The paper argues that road-based crimes create immediate danger – not only for victims, but also for other road users. A hijacking, shooting or cash-in-transit robbery can cause sudden braking, swerving, panic, running across roads and high-speed escapes. In other words, crime can become a crash trigger.

This matters in a country already battling a severe road safety burden. The researchers note that South Africa has one of the world’s highest homicide burdens and a road traffic death rate of 25.5 per 100,000 people, according to the World Health Organization’s 2023 Global Status Report.

Yet, despite the obvious overlap between crime and road safety, the relationship has been poorly researched in South Africa. This paper begins to close that gap.

Carjackings have doubled

Using SAPS crime data from 2013/14 to 2023/24, the researchers found that carjackings remain the most common form of road-based crime assessed in the study. The numbers have doubled over the past decade, rising from 11,180 to 22,702 incidents.

The latest SAPS data analysed in the paper also shows stark provincial hotspots. In 2023, the Western Cape’s Nyanga precinct recorded 501 carjackings, there were 353 carjackings in Harare and 275 in Philippi East. In Gauteng, Midrand recorded 251 carjackings, Olievenhoutbosch 248 and Sandringham 238. KwaZulu-Natal’s Umlazi precinct recorded 209.

Truck hijackings present a different pattern. For much of the decade, incidents hovered at about 1,200 a year, but the trend has risen since the 2020/21 reporting period. The highest 2023 precinct figures included Delmas with 53 truck hijackings, Orange Farm with 48, Kempton Park with 47 and Alberton with 42.

The N2 and R300 stand out

The most dramatic findings come from SANRAL’s Freeway Management System (FMS) data, gathered through camera technology between 2016 and 2024 in Cape Town, Gauteng and eThekwini.

In the Western Cape, the paper identifies a major concentration of road crimes on the N2 between Jakes Gerwel Drive and Mew Way, including the R300 intersection. This single section accounted for 46.7% of all road crimes against individuals recorded in the Cape Town study area.

The main Western Cape hotspot recorded 718 incidents between 2016 and 2024. These included 279 hijackings, 268 smash-and-grab crimes, 156 shootings and 15 cash-in-transit robberies. It also had the highest crime density in the study at 21.1 crimes per km².

That is a remarkable concentration of risk on a corridor that is vital to commuters, freight movement and access to Cape Town International Airport.

Gauteng and eThekwini show different patterns

Gauteng’s road-based crime pattern was more dispersed. Hijacking was still the dominant crime in the major hotspot, followed by cash-in-transit robberies, shootings and smash-and-grab crimes. The researchers also found that shootings in the Gauteng hotspot had been on a gradual upward trajectory, although reporting dipped in 2024.

In eThekwini, fewer incidents were captured in the FMS data, but hotspots were still evident along the N2 and N3. Hijackings were the most prominent crime type, peaking at 43 incidents in 2018 before falling sharply in 2019 and remaining lower during and after the Covid-19 period.

The comparison is important because it shows that road crime does not follow one simple national formula. Criminal behaviour appears to adapt to local road layouts, land use, traffic conditions and escape opportunities.

Road design can create opportunity

One of the paper’s most interesting findings is that infrastructure designed to improve mobility can also create opportunities for criminals.

The researchers examined the relationship between crime and physical road features such as off-ramps, traffic light intersections, pedestrian bridges, interchanges, stop signs and bridges. They found some associations, but not enough to draw a single national rule.

Smash-and-grab crimes in the Western Cape were often clustered near pedestrian bridges, off-ramp entrances and signalised interchanges. In Gauteng, they occurred mostly near off-ramps. In KwaZulu-Natal, some clustering appeared around traffic lights and pedestrian bridges.

Cash-in-transit robberies, although less common, were generally seen around off-ramps and traffic light intersections. Shootings varied sharply by region. In the Western Cape, they appeared more randomly distributed. In KwaZulu-Natal, they clustered around intersections and traffic lights. In Gauteng, they were linked more strongly to off-ramps and above-grade interchanges.

Criminals are adapting

The paper’s most sobering conclusion is that criminals are actively studying and exploiting the road environment rather than simply operating within it. They are refining their methods – choosing specific vehicles, tailoring their tactics to particular crime types, and using surrounding land, escape routes and road geometry to their advantage.

That means road-based crime cannot be addressed only through more patrols or broader crime statistics. It requires detailed hotspot mapping, better integration between road authorities and police, infrastructure-specific interventions and a sharper understanding of how criminals use transport systems.

South Africa’s national roads are economic arteries. This research suggests they are also becoming contested spaces where safety, security and mobility now collide.

By Serialong Kumalo, Communications consultant for SATC