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When Major General Norman Sekhukhune announced the latest South African Police Service crime statistics to the Portfolio Committee on Police on Thursday, the news was generally "not rosy", as Police Minister Bheki Cele said.
But when it came to crimes involving motor vehicles, there appeared to be some discernible progress.
In the aggravated robbery subcategory, reported cases of carjacking decreased slightly from 16 325 in the 2017/18 financial year to 16 026 in 2018/19 – a decrease of 1.8%.
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The deluge of cash-in-transit heists also seemed to have been stymied. There were 238 such incidents in the previous financial year and 183 in the 2018/19 financial year – a 23.1% reduction.
In the 2017/18 financial year, 1 202 incidents of truck hijackings were reported. This number decreased by 1.7% to 1 182.
In the category of contact-related crimes, the news around motor vehicles was slightly positive.
The theft of motor vehicles and motorcycles decreased with 48 324 reported thefts. This took the total incidents down by 4.6% from the previous year's total of 50 663 incidents.
Incidents of theft out of or from a motor vehicle decreased by 3.2% from 129 174 to 125 076 in the 2018/19 financial year.
Under the category of crime detected as a result of police action, the news was good for road users.
Motorists caught driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs decreased from 86 160 to 82 912 in the 2018/19 financial year – a decrease of 3.8%.
