Ekurhuleni metro police department spokesperson Chief Supt Kobeli Mokheseng said members from the traffic department were also at the scene controlling traffic.

 "We can confirm two trucks were set alight on the N12. We have closed a portion of the road to allow police to conduct their investigations."

He said the highway would be closed until further notice.

It is understood the trucks had been torched before 6am near the Etwatwa off-ramp.

This latest incident forms part of a national truck protest in which members of the All Truck Drivers Forum and Allied SA (ATDFASA) and the National Truck Drivers Federation (NTDF) are calling for the removal of foreign national truck drivers.

ST Daily reported that tensions in the trucking industry had reached boiling point after a 45-year-old truck driver was shot and killed on Monday night‚ the latest in a string of attacks that saw at least 30 trucks targeted last week.

Gauteng police spokesperson Capt Kay Makhubele could not immediately be reached for comment.