Cargo hijacking is not a random crime of opportunity in Southern Africa. It’s an organised, ever evolving enterprise driven by well-resourced syndicates. These groups operate with military precision, leveraging insider information, advanced technology, and well-coordinated tactics to target freight with devastating efficiency. The cost is billions of rands lost annually, broken supply chains, traumatised drivers, and, in many cases, businesses left scrambling for answers after it’s too late.
Southern Africa’s extensive road networks form the backbone of the region’s logistics industry. However, this same infrastructure has become a hunting ground for organised criminal networks. The targeting methods are diverse and involve considerable intelligence gathering before an attack is launched:
For businesses operating in the region, traditional security measures, such as tracking devices and armed escorts are often inadequate against the threats.
As mentioned, the direct financial losses from hijackings run into billions of rands annually, but the hidden costs are just as damaging. The disruption to supply chains results in contractual penalties, delayed deliveries, and lost customer trust. Insurance premiums continue to rise, while certain high-risk routes become uninsurable altogether.
Most critically, the safety of drivers remains a major concern. In many cases, hijackings turn violent, and drivers are subjected to intimidation, assault, or worse. Businesses that fail to take hijacking risks seriously enough do not only jeopardise their operations but also expose their personnel to life-threatening dangers.
The scale, sophistication, and frequency of hijackings expose a hard truth: most security strategies designed to prevent these crimes are fundamentally flawed. Despite heavy investments in armed escorts, tracking devices, and traditional security protocols, businesses continue to suffer devastating losses. The question is, why?
At Liebenberg & Associates, we dissect hijacking incidents, investigate the methods of organised crime syndicates, and analyse the weaknesses that leave supply chains vulnerable.
The reality is that most security strategies fail because they are reactive, fragmented, and predictable. A closer look reveals 7 main reasons behind this failure:
Many companies have a “checklist” approach. They install GPS trackers, hire armed escorts, and think that the job is done. The problem with this is that criminal syndicates evolve faster than these static defences.
High-powered jamming equipment, that is available on the black market, can disable GPS signals within seconds. Relying solely on tracking technology without anti-jamming countermeasures is a fatal flaw.
Criminals plan their attacks with military precision, often using superior firepower and tactics designed to neutralise armed guards swiftly. In some cases, escorts themselves are compromised through insider collusion.
Fixed cameras and monitoring systems provide limited coverage and are easily circumvented, especially in rural or high-risk transit areas where most hijackings occur.
Single points of defence create single points of failure. Without layered, integrated security systems, once one barrier is breached, there’s nothing left to stop the attack.
Criminal syndicates thrive on predictability. When logistics operations follow routine schedules, standard routes, and repetitive security protocols, they become easy targets.
Fixed routes become death traps. Many hijackings occur on well-known corridors where criminals have identified choke points, escape routes, and even predictable police and security patrol patterns.
Repetitive schedules simplify surveillance. If a truck leaves a warehouse at the same time every day with the same cargo type, criminals need only minimal surveillance to plan an attack.
Standardised security protocols are easy to study. Syndicates often have inside information or have observed security routines for long enough to identify weaknesses. This includes knowledge of shift changes, escort procedures, and tracking system vulnerabilities.
Security that lacks operational flexibility makes it easy for criminals to plan and execute attacks with confidence. Predictability equals vulnerability.
One of the most underestimated, and therefore under-addressed risks in cargo security is the insider threat. Many companies invest heavily in external security measures while neglecting the fact that the biggest threat very often comes from within.
An unfortunate reality is that employees often leak critical information. Dispatchers, drivers, security staff, and even middle managers may collude with criminals, providing details about cargo, routes, schedules, and security protocols.
May businesses further have no effective vetting or monitoring of staff. Standard background checks are insufficient to detect individuals who may become compromised after hiring. Continuous monitoring of employee behaviour and financial situations is rarely implemented.
Blind trust in security personnel is also a problem. Ironically, the very people hired to protect cargo can be part of the problem, either through corruption or coercion.
Focusing solely on external threats without addressing internal vulnerabilities leaves a critical gap. Criminals exploit this gap with alarming success.
Security investments often create a false sense of invincibility. When companies install new technology or hire reputable security providers, they mistakenly believe they are fully protected. This leads to complacency:
We often find that companies have no ongoing threat assessment programs. It is important to remember that the risk landscape changes constantly. What worked six months ago will likely be ineffective today, yet companies rarely update their threat assessments or adapt their security strategies accordingly.
Most companies fail to conduct realistic drills. Security protocols exist on paper but are never stress-tested under real-world conditions. This means that their employees are unprepared to respond effectively during an actual hijacking.
An overconfidence in insurance coverage sees some businesses rely on insurance to absorb the financial impact of hijackings, treating it as an acceptable cost of doing business. This mindset discourages proactive security improvements.
Security isn’t a “set-and-forget” solution. Without continuous evaluation, adaptation, and training, vulnerabilities multiply - and criminals exploit them.
In many organisations, security measures still operate in silos. The lack of proper integration between different systems such as physical security, surveillance, vehicle telematics, and incident response creates blind spots.
We often find that technologies are disconnected. Trackers don’t communicate with surveillance cameras; alarm systems aren’t linked to incident response protocols. This fragmentation delays detection and response during hijackings.
Companies further often lack a centralised security operations centre where data from multiple sources can be analysed in real time to detect threats and coordinate rapid responses.
We regularly see gaps in incident response. Even when hijackings are detected, the response is often slow and uncoordinated because security teams, operations staff, and external responders are not working from a unified playbook.
Criminals exploit these gaps, knowing that a fragmented defence is easier to penetrate than a cohesive, integrated security ecosystem.
Many companies treat hijacking prevention as a reactive process. Security measures are tightened only after an incident has occurred, instead of anticipating threats and preventing them in the first place.
The focus is often on incident response over prevention. Companies invest heavily in recovery strategies - tracking stolen goods, coordinating with law enforcement etc. but neglect proactive measures like surveillance detection, risk modelling, and insider threat programs.
Companies fail to disrupt criminal planning cycles. Criminals spend weeks, sometimes months to plan a hijacking. If companies focus only on the day of transit, they miss the opportunity to detect and disrupt criminal activity during the planning phase.
Without access to real-time intelligence about syndicate activities, emerging hijacking tactics, and shifting risk hotspots, companies are always a step behind.
Waiting for an attack to happen before acting is a security strategy doomed to fail.
Cargo hijacking is a specialised crime that requires specialised countermeasures. Unfortunately, many companies rely on providers who lack the expertise needed to address the unique complexities of hijacking syndicates.
Traditional security companies often apply outdated models designed for static facilities, not dynamic, high-risk logistics environments.
Security personnel are trained in basic protocols but lack tactical knowledge about criminal modus operandi, surveillance detection, or advanced driver evasive techniques.
Countering hijacking syndicates requires deep knowledge of how organised crime operates, how they infiltrate supply chains, and how to dismantle their networks - a capability few security providers possess.
Without the right expertise, security strategies are based on assumptions rather than intelligence-driven insights. This leaves businesses exposed to threats they don’t even recognise.
At Liebenberg & Associates, we don’t just offer another layer of security. Our Framework for the Prevention of Truck Hijackings systematically dismantles the vulnerabilities that criminals exploit, replacing fragmented defences with a unified, resilient system. This isn’t about adding more personnel, more trackers, or more of the same measures that have already failed countless businesses. It’s about shifting the entire security paradigm - anticipating threats before they materialise, disrupting criminal strategies before they unfold, and closing the gaps that insiders might exploit.
We integrate threat intelligence to uncover criminal planning in its earliest stages, apply operational risk engineering to eliminate the predictable patterns that hijackers rely on, and deploy insider threat programs that root out internal risks before they can be weaponised.
Our use of advanced technology is not just to monitor. It’s to counter real-world criminal tactics with precision. And when incidents do occur, our incident response protocols ensure a fast, coordinated, and effective reaction that minimises impact and prevents repeat attacks.
It’s a dynamic approach grounded in intelligence, technology, and operational discipline.
If your business is still relying on outdated strategies, hoping they’ll work differently next time, you’re gambling with your assets, your people, and your reputation. Don’t wait for the next attack to expose the cracks in your security.
Contact us at info@liebenbergassociates.com and secure your operations with a strategy that works - because prevention isn’t just possible. It’s essential.