Violent protest action forced the closure of the N3 near Merrivale in the KZN Midlands, with a mob putting the torch to trucks late on Thursday night.
Police and emergency service personnel scrambled to the scene after throngs of people blocked the road.
This just in: Protest action and trucks torched on the N3 near Merrivale. Police are at the scene @TimesLIVE pic.twitter.com/f8tKLDSa7d— Jeff Wicks (@wicks_jeff) January 10, 2019
This just in: Protest action and trucks torched on the N3 near Merrivale. Police are at the scene @TimesLIVE pic.twitter.com/f8tKLDSa7d
The group then set several trucks alight, the fires eventually resulting in the complete closure of the national route.
The N3TC, which administers the freeway, reported that both carriageways were open and that traffic was free flowing at 7am on Friday morning.
07h15 #Alert: Protest action in Howick vicinity. All lanes opened. Traffic moving. Travel safely— N3 Toll Concession (@N3Route) January 11, 2019
07h15 #Alert: Protest action in Howick vicinity. All lanes opened. Traffic moving. Travel safely
While police spokespeople were unavailable for comment at the time of publishing, sources with knowledge of the incident said that the violence may be linked to an earlier protest in Howick over land.
