The South African Police
Service (SAPS) has stepped up
efforts to clamp down on truck
hijackers following a 29.1%
year-on-year spike.
Hotspot analysis and more
effective collaboration at a local,
provincial and national level
are among the measures that
have been identified, said SAPS
deputy national commissioner,
Khela Sitole, speaking at the
Special Interest Group (SIG)
Transport Forum held in
Johannesburg last week.
“By analysing the data
available to us, we can identify
hot spots and deploy extra
resources to the police branches
located near these areas,” he
explained. Furthermore, with
SAPS members from other
regions working together,
information and resources
could be shared as truck
hijackers often weren’t confined
to a single province or region,
said Sitole.
SAPS Brigadier Riaan
van Staden said 62.9% of
the truck hijackings in South
Africa during 2014/2015 had
occurred in Gauteng.
Sitole pointed out that
criminals, including truck
hijacking syndicates, were
increasingly using the
internet, or “deep web”, to
target their victims. He said
that with SAPS’ limited
resources, especially with
regard to technology, this
made it difficult to trace
and intercept crime before it
happened. “Partnerships with
all stakeholders could play
a critical role in innovative
policing as the private sector
has access to information
technology resources, which the
SAPS does not,” he added.
During a panel discussion,
Sitole said that up until now
SAPS had had a “very minimal
cyber-crime focus”.
INSERT & CAPTION
By analysing the data
available to us, we
can identify hot spots
and deploy extra
resources.
– Khela Sitole
