Thugs Target Moving Trucks and Steal Goods in South Africa: Documented Incidents and Cases That Went Wrong for the Perpetrators
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In South Africa, criminals have repeatedly targeted trucks while they are in motion or slowed at intersections, climbing onto the vehicles to access and remove cargo. Fleet management footage, police reports, and industry accounts document multiple such incidents involving delivery trucks, meat transporters, and freight vehicles carrying consumer goods, copper, or other loads. These acts often involve unsecured cargo compartments or opportunistic access at traffic lights and on highways. Gauteng, particularly areas around Tembisa, Soweto, and Ekurhuleni, features frequently in reports, alongside incidents in KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape, and Mpumalanga. Official statistics and industry analyses note hundreds of truck hijackings and related cargo thefts annually, with Gauteng accounting for a majority of recorded cases in recent periods.
One documented case occurred in Kaalfontein, Tembisa. Security footage from DigitFMS captured two suspects climbing into the rear cargo compartment of a moving truck. The compartment had been left unsecured. The theft was discovered only when the company’s control room reviewed the dashcam footage at the client’s request. The company preserved the video evidence and provided it for investigation. Two suspects were identified on camera.
A related incident in Tembisa involved a meat delivery truck. Surveillance footage showed two young men running behind the moving vehicle, hopping onto it, and unlatching an unlocked cargo door. One leaned into the cargo area and pulled out what appeared to be at least a quarter of a cow while the second held the door open. They threw the meat onto the ground, closed the doors, and jumped off. The sequence lasted less than 50 seconds. The driver continued along the route and appeared unaware of the theft. It remained unclear whether arrests followed the circulation of the footage.
In another case shared by SA Long Distance Truckers, footage showed a man hanging from the back of a Spar truck, believed to be in the Eastern Cape. The individual tore a hole in the vehicle’s cover, gained access, and threw a large box of goods from the moving truck. A tanker was seen overtaking the truck during the incident.
Copper thieves have targeted articulated trucks along the R102 corridor between Umhlanga and Palmview in eThekwini. Reaction Unit South Africa responded to multiple incidents in which suspects emerged from bushes near traffic intersections as trucks slowed or stopped. The thieves snipped electrical cables connecting trailers to truck cabs. In one case, 12 metres of copper cable were cut and removed in under a minute. One transport company reported four of its trucks disabled over a single weekend.
In Soweto, criminals have targeted delivery vehicles at traffic lights and malls. They pounce as vans or bakkies slow at red lights, remove items from the back, and flee. Business owners near Protea Gardens Mall have reported arming themselves with stones in response to repeated attacks. Stolen items are often sold quickly within the same communities. Johannesburg Metro Police Department has noted the surge in such incidents reported to the South African Police Service.
Earlier footage from the Eastern Cape showed thieves climbing onto a moving pineapple truck on a stop-and-go section of the R72 near Hamburg. The men used sacks and jackets to collect and throw pineapples from the slow-moving vehicle. One fell onto the road while jumping off. The driver continued after a witness signalled awareness of the activity.
In Rossburgh, Durban, thieves climbed onto a moving truck, cut straps, and stole two sails (tarpaulins). A following driver filmed the act and attempted to alert the victim at a traffic light, but the thieves fled into railway lines.
Broader truck hijacking patterns include armed interceptions. In one March 2026 incident on the N2 southbound near Lamontville, three armed suspects in balaclavas forced a truck carrying perishable goods (mainly meat valued at approximately R283 500) to stop after signalling and firing a shot. The driver, security guard, and assistant were forced out, then driven to Umlazi U Section and dropped off. No injuries were reported.
Police and private security operations have recovered loads and made arrests in multiple cases. In Alrode, two foreign nationals without valid documentation were found offloading dozens of tyres from a hijacked heavy-duty truck that had been taken earlier that day from a Gauteng depot. The tyres were estimated at around R500 000 in value. Tools for vehicle entry and fake number plates were recovered. The men faced charges including illegal immigration.
On the R559 between Carletonville and Randfontein in October 2025, a joint operation involving police units and private security foiled the hijacking of a meat truck valued at more than R500 000 (specifically reported as R532 000) travelling from Potchefstroom. Six suspects aged 28 to 48 were arrested shortly after the truck was taken. The truck and three additional vehicles used in the crime were confiscated.
In April 2025 on the R25 Modderfontein Road, five suspects were arrested after hijacking a truck carrying solar batteries valued at approximately R5 million and kidnapping the driver. Two wore EMPD uniforms and others wore SAPS reflector jackets. The driver was rescued. The suspects faced charges of truck hijacking, kidnapping, possession of suspected stolen property, and impersonating police officers. Two vehicles used in the crime were seized.
In December 2025 in Eerste River, metro police recovered goods worth R500 000 linked to a Toyota Hino truck hijacked in Manenberg. Suspects had transferred stock to another vehicle in Khayelitsha before offloading in Eerste River. Five men aged 28 to 41 were arrested. The truck and cellphones were seized, and goods returned to the owner.
A flying squad sergeant from Secunda was arrested in September 2026 in connection with the May 2026 hijacking of a diesel truck in Bethal. Four other suspects had been arrested earlier. The sergeant faced a truck hijacking charge and was expected to appear in the Bethal Magistrate’s Court.
In other recoveries, police in Mpumalanga intercepted a hijacked truck carrying power transformers worth more than R6 million on the Schoemanskloof Road. A 34-year-old Mozambican national was arrested. The truck had been stolen in Devon, Gauteng. In a separate case, a serial hijacker linked to multiple cases was arrested in Emanguzi, KwaZulu-Natal, with a stolen truck and two trailers recovered. The suspect, a Mozambican previously convicted in other provinces, had been out on bail for similar crimes.
Incidents have also gone wrong for the perpetrators. In April 2025 at the R40/R538 four-way stop near De Rust, a would-be hijacker armed with an axe climbed onto a truck, smashed a side window, and demanded the driver stop and hand over a phone and cash. The driver accelerated and rocked the truck side to side. The attacker fell, sustaining fatal injuries. The driver later found the body in the road with the axe nearby and reported the incident to police.
In an earlier Mpumalanga case on the R40, a suspect attempted to hold up a driver with a knife after boarding the truck. The driver continued driving through Mbombela. The man hung onto the front of the vehicle before jumping off near the Riverside Industrial Park and fleeing. Police investigated the matter.
In Delft, Cape Town, in May 2025, a 20-year-old man died after attempting to steal cold drinks from a moving delivery truck near a convenience store in the Voorbrug area. Witnesses reported a group climbing onto the slow-moving vehicle. The man slipped while dismounting, fell, and was run over by the truck. He died at the scene. Police investigated the circumstances as an accident.
South African Police Service statistics for April to June 2026 recorded 327 truck hijackings, down from 414 in the same period the previous year, with Gauteng reporting 219 cases. Industry representatives from the Road Freight Association have stated that declines may partly reflect under-reporting, as some operators no longer report every incident due to limited confidence in outcomes. Analyses of earlier periods have placed a substantial share of cargo theft involving trucks in transit. Firearms have been involved in a high proportion of recorded hijacking incidents in sampled periods, with Gauteng consistently the primary hotspot.
Two thugs jump on and attempt to loot from a moving truck coming from SAB. pic.twitter.com/of6FbRHWOS
— PrimeTime News (@PrimeTimeNewsZA) September 10, 2026
These cases, drawn from police statements, security company footage releases, and contemporaneous news reports, illustrate both successful thefts from moving or slowed trucks and instances in which perpetrators were arrested during or after the acts, or suffered fatal consequences while attempting them.
Three suspects shot dead in Manor Gardens after armed business robbery and high-speed chase involving police and private security
Three suspected robbers were shot and killed and a fourth wounded during a confrontation with South African Police Service (SAPS) members and private security officials in Manor Gardens, Durban, on the afternoon of Thursday, 10 September 2026.
According to a statement from Marshall Security, its Special Operations Team, working with SAPS District Trio Tracing, Metro Trio and Homeland Security, acted on intelligence received at approximately 14:00 regarding suspects believed to be preparing to commit a business robbery. Before intervention could occur, the suspects carried out an armed robbery at Durban Halaal Meats on Brickfield Road in the Overport area.
Responding units identified the suspects’ vehicle and initiated a high-speed pursuit. During the chase, occupants of the vehicle opened fire on responding members and their vehicles. The pursuit continued into the Manor Gardens area, where the suspects’ vehicle came to a stop on Mary Thipe Street (also referred to as Mary Thiphe Road/Street in reports).
Three of the four suspects were declared deceased at the scene. The fourth sustained gunshot wounds, was treated by paramedics, stabilised and transported to hospital under police guard. Multiple firearms were recovered from the scene.
ALS Paramedics confirmed that three suspects had succumbed to their injuries and that the fourth was stable with no further people wounded in the incident.
The owner of Durban Halaal Meats, Muhammed Ameer, stated that three men entered the store, subdued the security guard and took his firearm. They stole cash, meat and cellphones. Ameer said staff were traumatised but no one at the business was physically injured. He noted that the stolen items remained inside the suspects’ vehicle and expressed gratitude that SAPS and Marshall Security pursued the suspects. Once investigations allow, the items are expected to be returned.
Marshall Security, SAPS District Trio Tracing, Provincial Criminal Intelligence (MDOC), Metro Trio and Homeland Security remained on the scene as the investigation continued. Officials stated that the location was an active crime scene and that no further operational details would be released at that stage pending the progress of the probe.
The incident forms part of ongoing joint operations between SAPS specialised units and private security companies targeting armed business robberies in the greater Durban area. Investigations into the full circumstances, the recovered firearms and any links to other crimes remain active.
Three suspects arrested in Fouriesburg over alleged kidnapping, murder and vehicle theft
Three suspects, aged 18, 23 and 26, have been arrested in connection with the alleged kidnapping and murder of a foreign national in Fouriesburg in the Free State, as well as the theft of the victim’s Toyota Hilux.
The victim’s body was discovered on Wednesday, 9 September 2026. It had been placed in a large garbage bag and concealed among trees along the R26 near Uitkyk Farm, approximately 5 km outside Fouriesburg.
Police arrested the first suspect, an 18-year-old Grade 11 learner, at his school. Information obtained during the investigation led to the subsequent arrests of the two alleged accomplices.
During the arrests, one of the suspects was found in possession of 27 rounds of live ammunition. Investigators further established that the stolen Toyota Hilux had allegedly been sold in Gauteng.
The three suspects face charges of kidnapping, murder and motor vehicle theft. One of them additionally faces a charge of unlawful possession of ammunition.
They are expected to appear in the Fouriesburg Magistrate’s Court on 11 September 2026.
Free State Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant General Thabang Lesia has praised the police for the swift arrests and the progress of the investigation.
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