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AFRICA ANALYSIS


PIECING TOGETHER THE BIG PICTURE


Freight crime in South Africa – we know the risks, but now it’s time to share the data as TAPA calls on industry to step up reporting


A new report into ‘Freight Crime in South African Supply Chains’ by TT Club and BSI SCREEN Intelligence throws further light on the prevalence of cargo theft incidents that continue to blight the country, its economy and business community.


To all intents and purposes, the scale of cargo crime in South Africa remains an anomaly. Despite its best and continued efforts, TAPA EMEA remains unable to gain tangible support from more of the the victims of supply chain crimes in respect of incident reporting to the Association’s IIS database. It’s a focus the Association is certainly not giving up on.


“We still see great potential for South Africa to become the next major country in our region to significantly increase the level of


cargo crime intelligence to TAPA’s IIS database. This will help the supply chain resilience programmes of all TAPA members doing business in South Africa – and it will send a signal to companies in other countries with high rates of cargo losses that we need to


work together to reduce the impact on our businesses,” said Thorsten Neumann, President & CEO of TAPA EMEA.


He is also quick to point out that companies have nothing to fear when they share crime intelligence with TAPA’s IIS. The Association never asks for the name, contact details or company identity of anyone filing an IIS Incident Report. The value of each piece of information is unquestionable, it’s just the numbers that need to improve considerably


to become more representative of the true situation facing South African supply chains.


In 2019, TAPA’s IIS recorded 118 incidents of cargo crime in South Africa and a loss figure for the 30.5% of these thefts with a value of €19,944,059. The corresponding figure for the first six months of 2020 was just 38, while data from the South African Police Service (SAPS) for the 12 months ending 31 March 2020 showed 1,202 truck hijackings, up 1.7% year-on-year. The disparity in the numbers is revealing enough to highlight the lack of industry reporting but many experts on the ground in South Africa would also argue that even the highest reported statistic is still only a modest percentage of the true crime rate.


On a more positive note, TT Club and BSI’s latest offering provides some up-to-date and useful guidance on South Africa’s freight crime trends.


The report states: “Throughout 2020, several cargo theft trends developed in South Africa. The threat and violence involved with cargo theft hijackings in South Africa are historically the primary concern for supply chains in the region. While this significant concern remains, the first half of 2020 saw an increase in thefts from facilities and theft locations diversified between the first two quarters of 2020, reaching the Eastern Cape and Western Cape.


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