Manufacturers, shippers and freight and logistics service providers will meet in Johannesburg on 7 March 2023 to discuss ways to reduce rising cargo crime in South Africa at a special one-day conference hosted by the Transported Asset Protection Association’s (TAPA) Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) region.

In its latest Cargo Crime 18-Month Report, the TAPA EMEA Intelligence System (TIS) recorded 2,670 cargo thefts in South Africa across all 9 provinces, including 2,236 truck hijackings as well as multiple attacks on freight facilities, costing businesses tens of millions of euros in product losses.

Crime data for the period shows a combined loss figure of €31.7 million (577 million Rand) – and this was based on only 3.4% of recorded crimes sharing their actual financial losses. The average loss for major incidents involving goods worth >€100K stood at €947,862 per crime (18.3m Rand), the Association says.

On March 7, TAPA EMEA’s leadership team will be joined by senior representatives from the South African Police Service (SAPS), Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA), DHL Express, Rhenus Logistics, TITAN Aviation Group, TCG Digital Forensics, and the International Platinum Group Metals Association to look at the impact of cargo crime on South Africa’s businesses and economy, and to offer advice on some of the solutions currently available to mitigate these risks.

“This event aims to help all supply chain stakeholders understand the level of cargo crime taking place across South Africa and to offer intelligence and solutions to increase their supply chain resilience and prevent losses. For victim companies, such high value losses impact customer relationships, damage their reputations, and can lead to rising costs, such as higher insurance premiums. And, tragically, as a result of the high level of violence seen in many attacks, we are also regularly notified of drivers, security guards, and law enforcement officers losing their lives during cargo crime incidents in South Africa,” Thorsten Neumann, president and CEO of TAPA EMEA, said.

He added: “The South African Police Service (SAPS) is working proactively to reduce truck hijackings and other types of cargo crimes and we applaud their initiative. They are also one of the few law enforcement agencies globally to record truck hijackings and cash-in-transit robberies as specific crime categories, which is especially useful intelligence for our member companies. However, the solution to rising crime is not just down to the actions of the police. Companies can do more to protect their supply chains if they understand the types of crimes, the modus operandi of cargo thieves, where incidents are occurring, and the types of goods being stolen. TAPA EMEA has this insight. We also have effective supply chain security standards which can protect facilities and trucking operations, and we are confident these can contribute significantly to preventing losses and protecting employees from the types of attacks we are recording.”

New data issued last week by the South African Police Service (SAPS) reveals a 9.8% year-over-year rise in truck hijackings in Q4 2022, with a total of 492 incidents over this 92-day period.

To further highlight the types of losses business are facing, TAPA EMEA shared examples of some of the thefts reported to its incident database over its latest 18-month analysis period, which included:

• €5,994,652 – clothing and footwear stolen from an Origin Facility in Durban
• €5,458,860 – cobalt hydroxide taken from a warehouse facility in Gauteng province
• €4,745,897 – theft of car parts en route in Eastern Cape
• €2,250,000 – trailers and goods stolen from an Origin Facility in Kempton Park, Gauteng province
• €1,185,824 – 1,540 cases of liquor stolen in a truck hijacking in Western Cape
• €575,580 – copper stolen in a truck hijacking in Johannesburg
• €486,316 – another theft of car parts in Eastern Cape
• €356,350 – 38 tonnes of copper rods and 4 trailers stolen in Ehlanzeni, Mpumalanga
• €323,908 – fuel taken from an Origin Facility in Limpopo
• €120,000 – groceries stolen from a truck travelling on the N2 en route to Gqeberha

The one-day conference on 7 March is free of charge for TAPA EMEA members or costs just €99 (1,800 Rand) for non-members to attend. The event, which also incorporates an exhibition area featuring leading providers of supply chain security products and services, takes place at the Emperors Palace Convention Centre in Johannesburg.