The number of business leaders looking to armour-plate their cars has increased in response to rising violent crime, which has seen businesspeople hijacked, attacked and kidnapped for ransom.
Entrepreneurs in the business of bulletproofing and armour-plating civilian vehicles report a jump in enquiries from potential clients, with strong growth in sales and rentals of armoured vehicles and clients willing to pay upwards of R1m to armour-plate their luxury cars.
“There is no doubt we are seeing an increase in enquiries for armoured vehicles, bulletproof vehicles. These are largely in the Gauteng area and a little bit in the Western Cape, particularly Cape Town, most certainly as a result of hijackings, kidnappings and so on,” anticrime activist Yusuf Abramjee said.
“People that are vulnerable are now opting for bulletproof vehicles, armour-plated vehicles, protection officers, body guards, simply because they are being targeted.
“These vehicles do not come cheap, but my advice often to people is if you can afford it and you think you are vulnerable, it’s a good option to protect yourself and your families.”
Abramjee said that criminals were targeting businesspeople in particular.
“They profile you and that is when they try to either kidnap you or rob you.
“And we have most certainly seen a dramatic increase in these types of crimes, especially in Gauteng and the Western Cape and the demand for them [armoured vehicles] appears to be going up,” he said.
Releasing the crime statistics for the third quarter of the 2022/23 financial year in February, police minister Gen Bheki Cele noted a 2.8% increase in hijacking, saying 52,711 people were arrested for various crimes including hijackings, murder, assaults and other serious crimes during the festive season. Robbery with aggravating circumstances was also up.
In January, a businessperson was allegedly kidnapped from his vehicle after leaving his business situated in Jeppe, Johannesburg. The police subsequently arrested six men, including the owner of the house where the victim was held.
Last week, an armed man believed to be a taxi boss was gunned down in full view of motorists in Ottawa, KwaZulu-Natal while driving his Ford Ranger bakkie.
Nicol Louw, business development director at SVI Engineering, an original equipment manufacturer specialising in armoured vehicles since 2004, said there had been a “huge increase” in the number of businesspeople making inquiries about bulletproof and armoured solutions for their vehicles, “especially with what’s happening in KwaZulu-Natal at the moment regarding assassinations and kidnappings”.
Louw, who described SVI Engineering as a market leader in Africa, serving the private, corporate, security, mining and governmental segments, said: “There is definitely an increase in the number of people asking about the cost of armouring their vehicles.”
The number of quotations sent out to potential clients was 1,450 in 2020, 1,600 in 2021 and then surged to 1,920 in 2022.
Louw said that during the 2021/22 financial year, the company recorded 51% growth in revenue on the previous year.
During 2022/23, there was 57% growth on the previous year, he said.
“The growth is not only in vehicle sales but also in rentals [our rental armoured fleet is around 30 vehicles], armoured guard houses and our accredited driver training course for armoured vehicles,” Louw said.
SVI Engineering sold 130 armoured vehicles in 2020 and expected the number to increase to more than 200 in 2023,he said.
“Our Max 3 anti-riot vehicle, based on the Land Cruiser 79, sold three units in 2020 and we expect to sell around 50 units this year.”
Armoured Mobility CEO Dawood Olgar said that he had been in the armouring business since 2015 and started off in manufacturing before branching off to the retail side of the business.
“In the last two to three years, there has been increasedinterest for armoured cars from all sectors: the construction guys threatened by the construction mafia, corporate guys, mining, and the taxi business,” Olgar said.
“We offer a complete bulletproof solution: the roof, doors, windows, pillars, the vehicle is armoured all round. Some customers are beginning to ask for armouring on the floor of the car as well.”
Joe du Plooy, MD of Pace Armoured, a company with branches in Sandton, Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban, said wealthy people were looking for ways to protect their families from kidnappings.
Du Plooy said prices for armouring vehicles were “crazy”, with the price starting at R1.1m and going up to R1.7m for high-end luxury vehicles such as the Land Rover Discovery and Toyota Fortuner.
Olgar said vehicles are armoured in different categories, with the entry-level B4 variant offering protection against handguns, while the most popular B6 option offers defence against AK-47s, R5s and other high-calibre assault rifles.
A complete B6 armoured double-cab bakkie retailed for about R890,000, he said.
“There is a growing demand for armoured vehicles. It’s actually a sad state of affairs. The crime rate is so high, people have to spend a lot of money to protect themselves,” Olgar said.
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