Trucks turned away at Richards Bay, freeways blocked in Joburg

Tensions continue to rise within the trucking fraternity as protests saw dozens of truck drivers pulled over by members of the All Truck Drivers Forum and Allied SA (ATDF ASA) on Monday.

ATDF ASA is at loggerheads with the national bargaining council for the road freight and logistics industry over negotiations and the ongoing feud about foreigners employed by industry giants.

A group of about 30 ATDF ASA members pulled over dozens of truck drivers in Richards Bay in northern KwaZulu-Natal as police and soldiers monitored the situation.

Drivers were ordered to pull over or turn around at an informal truck stop along the John Ross Highway while attempting to enter the harbour.

ATDF ASA organiser Zwakele Magwaza said they couldn't count how many trucks they pulled over.

“I cannot tell you how many, but we stopped them and explained what the protest was about and released them to go back to a truck stop, not to their destination.”

In Johannesburg, trucks blocked the M2 and M1 south as well as the N3/N12 (Geldenhuys Interchange).

The protests coincided with a peaceful march by ATDF ASA members to the national bargaining council offices in Pietermaritzburg where they intended to hand over a memorandum of demands.

However, the offices were closed when they arrived there, resulting in a stalemate with ATDF ASA members vowing to camp at the premises until someone received their memorandum.

ATDF ASA secretary Sifiso Nyathi said: “We are disappointed that the bargaining offices are closed and yet, we as truck drivers, pay fees which help run the office. They don't want to take responsibility and hear concerns raised by their bosses.”

As in other industries, the freight industry had been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, he said.

The industry faced a crisis caused, to some extent, by various departments, including home affairs.  “We no longer want foreigners in the bargaining council,” said Nyathi.

“They should just kick them out.” Truck driving “does not require a specialised skill” and SA had an oversupply of drivers.   

He said they also demanded a 20% salary increase. 

Another demand is the removal of cameras inside trucks.

“Having cameras inside the vehicles takes away our privacy. You must remember that we sleep and eat inside our vehicles. Our constitution allows us to have privacy.” 

They were giving the council seven days to accede to the demands, which included that all foreign truck drivers be removed immediately and SA-registered trucks be driven by SA citizens.

There was a strong police and army presence on the N2. 

'Domestic terrorism'

According to Lisa Sukdev, media liaison for Positive Freight Solutions (PFS), a non-governmental organisation representing the interests of private logistics companies in SA, ATDF ASA “ignored opportunities” presented to them by PFS.

The industry lost more than R13m during the previous protest initiated by ATDF ASA, which amounted to domestic terrorism.

“This loss was a result of work stoppage. The reality is that these losses do not affect the truck owner or the ATDF. The direct affect is experienced by SA citizens going to the shop to purchase consumable goods.”

SAPS KZN spokesperson Lt-Col Nqobile Gwala said: “We can confirm that this morning Richards Bay police arrested five suspects aged between 30 and 56 who were intimidating truck drivers.”

They will appear in court soon. 

Additional reporting by Mfundo Mkhize

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