Insurers: Hijacking claims soar

There has been "quite a spike" in vehicle hijackings in South Africa in the past six months, according to one leading South African insurer.

"The increase is substantial... about 30%," said Mutual and Federal executive general manager for claims Keith Kennedy on Wednesday.

This figure was based on the number of claims received by his company in this period - one not covered by the figures unveiled by Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula earlier in the day.

The government's official crime statistics, presented by Nqakula at a media briefing in Pretoria, cover the period from April 1 2005 to March 31 this year, coinciding with his department's financial year.

Among the figures presented by the minister were that car hijackings were up 3.1%, and truck hijackings by 10.9%.

'Phenomenal amount'

Kennedy also warned of a sharp increase in claims involving armed robberies at people's homes.

"There has been a phenomenal amount in the past six months... up about 28%," he said.

Another insurer, Santam, said claims involving vehicle hijackings had increased moderately in the period January to August this year, compared to the same period last year.

"[There has been] a moderate increase in the number of claims, but a significant increase in the total claims amount," said Santam& underwriting manager Attie Blaauw.

He said burglary claims between April 2005 and May this year had shown a "slight increase".

'Exceeds highs last recorded in 2001/02'

In a statement on Wednesday, Democratic Alliance MP Dianne Kohler-Barnard cited figures obtained from Hollard Insurance that showed "a 30% to 40% increase in car hijackings between March and June compared to last year".

There had been further increases of between 20% and 30% for July and August.

"Insurance firms and tracking companies indicated earlier this month that car hijackings had increased from 12 434 in 2004/05 to more than 15 864 so far this year - exceeding highs last recorded in 2001/'02," she said.

Referring to vehicle theft figures - pegged by Nqakula at 85 964 stolen last year - Kennedy said this type of crime was still at "unacceptably high levels".

He said this equated to about 235 vehicles stolen on average each day, "more than is stocked in any one dealership around the country".