Product of the Day
ShadowGuard targets tracking blind spot
The GPS device focuses on valuable assets often overlooked by vehicle-focused recovery services in South Africa.
Horizen, a South African tracking technology company, has launched a matchbox-sized GPS tracker that uses Vodacom’s Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) network. ShadowGuard is designed to help consumers monitor and recover high-value movable assets like trailers, camping gear, camera equipment, and boats.
“ShadowGuard uses Vodacom’s NB-IoT, a low-power cellular technology originally deployed for enterprise Internet of Things applications such as smart meters, industrial sensors, and asset tracking,” says Horizen. “For tracking applications, NB-IoT supports improved signal penetration through walls and buildings, wider coverage in lower-signal areas, and lower power consumption.
“In ShadowGuard’s case, that supports long battery life in a compact device that does not require users to manage a consumer SIM card, arrange professional installation, or perform technical configuration. ShadowGuard is South Africa’s first consumer-grade NB-IoT tracker built for portable asset recovery. Measuring 46mm × 41mm × 16mm, ShadowGuard is the smallest long-life portable GPS tracker of its kind in the local market.”
In the first nine months of the 2025/2026 financial year, SAPS recorded more than 77,000 vehicle-related theft cases, including 22,726 thefts of motor vehicles and motorcycles and 54,838 cases of theft from motor vehicles.
Behind those numbers, says Horizen, lies a real everyday problem: valuable movable assets are often parked, stored, or left unattended without a practical tracking solution. According to the company, many valuable movable assets do not fit neatly into a tracking market built around cars, fleets, installations, and monthly contracts. Examples include trailers, caravans, quads, bicycles, e-bikes, tools, camping gear, camera equipment, boats, and jet skis.
This can leave an awkward gap for consumers: paying up to R6,000 in the first year for a conventional vehicle-tracking contract (typically R1,200-R2,500 upfront plus R150-R300 per month), or relying on a Bluetooth tag.
ShadowGuard aims to address the gap. Designed for high-value portable assets, the tracker gives consumers a plug-and-play way to receive movement alerts and follow a breadcrumb trail if an asset is moved without permission.
Calvin Terblanche, Horizen founder, says: “ShadowGuard came from a very practical problem. We were seeing people use Bluetooth tags to protect assets they were genuinely worried about losing, but those tags were never built for active theft recovery. We wanted to take technology usually associated with enterprise IoT and make it simple enough for someone to use on a trailer, e-bike, caravan, or piece of equipment without technical setup or a traditional tracking contract.”
ShadowGuard includes tamper and movement alerts, and switches to two-minute location updates when an asset starts moving, creating a breadcrumb trail that can be shared with SAPS or insurance assessors. When stationary, ShadowGuard checks in less frequently, offering up to two months of battery life in standby mode and seven to ten days in active tracking mode.
“Not every asset is a car, and not every person wants another monthly tracking subscription,” says Terblanche. “A trailer, bicycle, quad, caravan, or piece of equipment can represent real value to a household or small business. If it moves when it should not, people need to know quickly. ShadowGuard is about giving them that early warning and a practical recovery trail.”
ShadowGuard is available for R1,699 once-off, with the first two months of connectivity included. Users pay a monthly connectivity fee of around R20 per month thereafter.
Traditional tracking services can include upfront hardware costs, monthly service fees, professional installation, and contract commitments. ShadowGuard is sold as a once-off hardware purchase, with connectivity charged separately, allowing users to move the device between different assets. The tracking platform includes alerts, virtual boundaries, route history, and multi-device access.
* ShadowGuard is available from the Horizen website and Takealot.
