The umbrella category of aggravated robbery does not on its own always provide a useful picture. Thus, both bank robberies and robberies of cash in transit are a tiny proportion of the overall number of aggravated robberies. The latter crimes do not then have any impact on the overall national aggravated robbery trend. Indeed, both bank robberies and robberies of cash in transit have been in decline, while the overall category of aggravated robbery has shown notable increases. Incidents of hijacking account for about one in five reports of aggravated robbery. The hijacking trend thus has an important impact on national aggravated robbery trends.

Hijackings — as is the case with both bank robberies and robbery of cash in transit — were only isolated as a separate category of aggravated robbery from July 1995. Thus, the trend for hijacking can only be established from this point onwards. Between July 1995 and the end of 1997, national hijacking trends remained relatively stable, although there were substantial fluctuations over the period in a band of between 900 and 1200 incidents a month. From the end of 1997, however, there were substantial increases in cases of car hijacking, with monthly incidents being reported in a band of between 1200 and 1400 incidents. These increases in hijacking, which have been sustained into the first part of 1999, should be viewed with great concern.

Incidents of truck hijacking have shown a very different trend to that of the hijacking of cars. There has been a relatively steady increase in the hijacking of trucks from July 1995 (when the monthly total stood at just over 200) to a figure of 538 in March 1999.

Increases in violent property crime as outlined above are probably some of the most worrying crime trends impacting upon the country. Most notably, crimes such as hijacking, and other related violent robberies, given the violence and unpredictability which characterise them, lead to high levels of fear of crime. Of concern is the fact that hijacking is no longer taking place mainly in and around Johannesburg as has been the case in the past. There has been a spread of the crime across Gauteng, and, more recently, to other areas of the country, notably KwaZulu-Natal.

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