South Africa blasts back at car thieves

From pitbulls on the back seat to flamethrowers, Johannesburg drivers are arming themselves with ever-more desperate defence systems.

Satellite tracking systems, immobilisers, panic alarms and bulletproof windows are the norm. Keeping a vehicle permanently unwashed doesn't hurt, and running red lights is widespread.

But the most elaborate anti-carjacking kit is the Blaster - a device that throws a 6ft-high fireball at a would-be thief without damaging the paintwork.

The Blaster, which costs £300 to buy and fit, works by squirting liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from two nozzles beneath the car's front doors, fed by gas bottles in the boot. Triggered by a pedal at the driver's feet, the wall of flame gives motorists enough time to escape.

Two years ago, at a Johannesburg crossroads, a carjacker brandishing a child's gun was burned to death by a crude home-made flamethrower. Drivers who injure or kill attackers must be able to show they were justified in using such force.

The Blaster is sold legally in South Africa and its inventor, Charl Fourie, denies his invention is capable of causing death. He said: "This is definitely non-lethal. A person is not going to stand there for a minute while you roast him alive. But it could certainly blind him and scar him for life, for sure."

South Africa's crime epidemic shows no sign of abating, and the security industry is one of the country's most prosperous.

Mr Fourie said demand for the Blaster was "huge". Drivers can opt for a pepper spray version.

More commonplace deterrents include firearms in the map pocket, guard dogs on the back seat ( particularly popular with convertible-car drivers), and stickers warning of curses being put on thieves in up to 11 South African languages. But Richard Brussowa former South African police officer who now runs anti-carjacking courses, said drivers had become victims of their own security.

"Parked cars have never been harder to steal, which means thieves have to take them while we are driving them," he explained.

Mr Brussow discourages the use of firearms, pepper spray and flame-throwing devices, saying that they made carjackers more desperate. "We will get to a point where thieves know they are no longer safe to go up to a car and threaten the driver. So, instead of giving you the option of surrendering your vehicle, they will just shoot you first."