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UP IN ARMS: Striking truck drivers, who are demanding salary increases of 12%, are said to be attacking truck drivers randomly without verifying their status. PHOTO: Vathiswa Ruselo

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Striking truck drivers, who are demanding salary increases of 12%, have been attacking truck drivers randomly without verifying their status.

Many private companies and the government have over the years outsourced transportation of goods to small companies.

The current salary impasse has no bearing on small transport businesses, but they are greatly affected.

Talks to reach a settlement between unions and the Road Freight Employers Association deadlocked yesterday.

The employers are offering workers 8.5% and the unions are sticking to their demand of 12%.

The stalemate could lead to the escalation of violence and small operators would still be caught in the crossfire.

Entrepreneur Pakiso Gumbi's company, PYG, owns two trucks that transport manganese from Northern Cape to Durban. PYG is sub-contracted to KWS Carriers, which has a direct contract with a Northern Cape mine.

A fuming Gumbi said both his trucks were damaged by vandals linked to the strike while en route to Durban.

He said KWS threatened to fine his company R50,000 for failing to make a delivery and he therefore had to dispatch his trucks.

Sowetan has seen a copy of an e-mail in which KWS Carriers' Marthinus Pretorius orders his subordinate to penalise Gumbi.

"Arrange that a KWS truck fetch the trailer, then charge PYG a R50,000 penalty for not delivering the load," Pretorius wrote in the e-mail.

Efforts to reach KWS yesterday were unsuccessful.

Gumbi said the insurance company that PYG's trucks are insured with, has notified him that as the damage to his vehicles due to the strike was avoidable, the insurance company would not be willing to cover the costs of damage because of the strike.

SA Transport Workers Union spokesman Vincent Masoga condemned attacks on small transportoperations.

He said the union had asked metro police officers not to allow delivery trucks into areas where workers were marching.

"We have spoken to workers but there is always a criminal element which we seek to isolate. It cannot be correct that small emerging business people are victims of the strike," said Masoga.

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Wed May 22 07:29:05 SAST 2013 ::

Oct 5, 2012

Afrojoy

A lot of the trucks torched are also cross border trucks from Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, DRC etc that use South African ports to transport their goods over-seas. These foreign in-transit drivers have nothing to do with South African trukers unions and sometimes arrive in SA without proir knowledge of the dangers from striking SA drivers. We have turned ourselves into a nation of savages by these violent strikes.
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Oct 5, 2012

Poppitlove

I would like to know why the Sowetan is not reporting on the economic impacts all the strikes are having on SA. SA's credit rating has now been downgraded, Anglo Mine is thinking of closing, and investors are scared away. Sowetan, can you please report on the 51,000.00 Rand per day salaries for independent investigators and the impact all the strikes are having. This is disgusting.
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Oct 5, 2012

RobinH

Poppitlove: Although I agree with you, let's not delude ourselves into thinking that those actually marching and torching actually read newspapers. They are being deliberately duped and manipulated by people who are wealthy enough not to have to worry about where the next meal comes from and who really couldn't care less for the poor.
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