WATCH: IOL goes on exclusive aerial mission in SA's vehicle crime war
Image: Nicola Mawson
It starts out as an exceptionally cold day – five degrees – when I arrive at Netstar's Global Fleet Bureau (GFB) in Midrand with the plan of going up in a helicopter on a mission to recover a stolen or hijacked car.
The GFB contact center at Netstar's head office is the first point of call for people who have just been hijacked or come out of the shops and found their car stolen. Between verifying identities to ensure the call is legit and getting a response team on the ground or in the air, Contact Center Manager Rajan Algoppen, told IOL will take a maximum of 15 minutes in winter or at night, and that's because the bird needs to warm up.
The recovery company reacts as quickly as possible while remaining securely within the boundaries of the law, such as complying with the Protection of Personal Information Act, and aspects such as air traffic control.
Netstar's Global Fleet Bureau where calls are received
Image: Nicola Mawson
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Calls coming into the contact center can vary from someone who has just been hijacked through to a stolen vehicle as well as people who are concerned about loved ones for a variety of reasons. Jeandre Koen, MD of Netstar SA, explained that it is increasingly seeing incidents of people being kidnapped.
This, Koen said, is a bid by criminals to take the 'heat' away from them by having collateral. Ransoms, too, are on the increase, he said. Algoppen said that call center staff are specifically trained to help people deal with these sorts of difficult situations and they are also offered counselling so they can debrief.
South Africans are being held for days, which also enables thieves to make best use of their smartphone banking app, pulling out the maximum cash, said Koen. He added that hijackers then dump people, usually naked and without a cellphone, somewhere very out of the way where the closest human can be as far away as a two-hour walk. 'They make it difficult to find your people.'
The South African Police Service's (SAPS') crime stats for the period between October and December last year showed that there were 4 807 carjackings in those three months – 1 602 a month, although this a 20% decrease year-on-year. During the last quarter of 2024, there were 413 truck jackings.
At the National Airways Corporation heliport close to Netstar's head office, a call comes in and the chase is on. Pilot Jaco spins up the blades on the Robertson R44 Raven 2, while airtracker Bongani starts tracking the car – a Kio Picanto.
The car has been taken in Centurion and the helicopter is steered along its most likely escape route. Live agents back in the GFB, based on years of knowledge, help direct recovery efforts along likely escape routes.
In the helicopter, Jaco pilots it north towards Centurion and the chase is on. While he's flying and liaising with various air traffic controllers such as at Midrand's Grand Central Airport, Bongani is checking the signal from the car and keeping an almost literal eagle eye out the windscreen and windows.
The Kia is found a short while later, and the adrenaline rush is over barring the paperwork. Jaco explained that once the vehicle has been found, the chase is handed over to the ground crew who have also been tracking the car and liaising with the police.
While the Kia was recovered, many other popular brands are taken for spare parts. Grant Fraser, Netstar Group MD, told IOL that, in addition to popular vehicles such as VW Polos, Toyota Fortuner and Hilux models as well as the Nissan NP 200 being stolen for replacements, 'we are starting to see the high value vehicles' being taken.
Fraser noted models such as Land Cruisers and Prados were often used in cash in transit heists as they can force a security truck off the road. Other higher-end vehicles were also set to be shipped overseas or across Africa, added Koen.
Grant Fraser, Netstar Group MD
Image: Nicola Mawson
Vehicle theft, said Fraser, is about economics. While patterns have changed in the past few years post Covid-19, the current trend the Altron unit has seen is that thefts often happen over weekends, while hijackings take place from Wednesday to Friday, said Koen – although this does vary. 'Crime goes to where people go,' Koen said.
Koen also said that crooks sometimes used luxury cars as getaway vehicles after a cash-in-transit heist, with another option being for them to use something as innocuous as a Hilux, while 29 cases of cash-in-transit robberies were reported by the SAPS in the last quarter of 2024.
Fraser added that the company, which also offers truck fleet management solutions, has seen an increase in theft of cargo such as cellphones, cigarettes, alcohol, as well as metals like copper.
Netstar's Robertson R44 Raven 2 helicopter
Image: Nicola Mawson
Netstar, which recovers about 700 vehicles a month with a more than 90% recovery rate, tracks total vehicles movements that are equivalent to a road going to the moon and back 4.5 times every hour.
Given the current landscape as well as the technology and data available to companies like Netstar, it has been accelerating innovation, said Fraser. He added that innovation 'is helping us to improve our recovery rate'.
The company is also working with Business 4 South Africa to help build safe corridors, with new technologies being geared towards protecting drivers as well as what they are carrying in their vehicles.
'We save lives; that is the priority, and we do that every single day,' said Fraser.
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