While the truck driver’s forum says it has nothing to do with the latest attack on trucks on the N3 at Van Reenen’s Pass yesterday morning, it is threatening to intensify protest action against foreign truckers.
Six trucks were torched in the early hours of Sunday in what the Road Freight Association (RFA) has described as a “co-ordinated attack”.
According to police minister Bheki Cele , one of the trucks in the queue at the N3 Concession Plaza had come under attack by occupants of a white vehicle who had forced it to a stop, opened fire on it and then burnt it. Other five trucks were also torched.
The RFA said the costs of the damage including the cargo could run between R18m and R60m.
Speaking to Sowetan yesterday, All Truck Drivers Forum and Allied SA ATDF ASA secretary Sifiso Nyathi said they signed a task team implementation plan document in June last year that would have ensured minimal employment of foreigns as truck drivers.
“We addressed these issues with the government and it was never sorted out. It is just people talking but nothing is done, companies are still employing foreign nationals.
Nyathi said they would protest soon about their grievances but did not say when.
Part of what is contained in the document that was signed, which Sowetan has seen, was the confirmation of driving licences and professional driving permits of foreign drivers, identifying foreign driving licences that were invalid and that all trucks transporting goods for gain or on behalf of the third party must register with the bargaining council.
But, according to Nyathi, none of these plans has been implemented.
“[The] government is fooling us because they are not taking any action against the employers,” Nyathi said.
RFA CEO Gavin Kelly also said the critical things from the task team implementation plans had not yet been implemented, adding that had they been implemented “I don’t think we would be where we are today”.
Kelly believes that the extension of the Zimbabwean Exemption Permits and the recent ruling around permits by the high court in Pretoria would “bring further headache”.
“It seems now it is going to drag this [government’s implementation plans] even further,” he said.
Kelly also said the proposed tightening of requirements for driving permits was “flawed” in the case where legitimate cross-border operations are conducted.
“The issue of PrDPs was what the department of transport thought was their silver bullet to addressing the number of foreign drivers driving vehicles in SA for SA companies,” he said.
On the issue of the recent attack on trucks, Kelly described it as “worrying”, adding that at this point, no group has taken responsibility for the attack.
Kelly said the incident was a “ruthless attack” on the road freight supply chain and the effects were far-reaching.
He also said the immediate short-term losses would run into millions of rand – the long-term impact “will be felt in terms of increased security costs into the cost of logistics, higher insurance premiums, higher Sasria cover premiums, higher toll fees, less freight movement through SA, closure of freight companies, loss of jobs”.
He said in the past the ATDF and its affiliates “quite often acknowledged” that they were behind the attacks, but were denying taking in yesterday’s one.
He said they suspected that the attack was driven by unhappiness relating to the employment of foreigners in the sector. He said these incidents had been happening for the past six years.
“We have heard the minister of police refer to economic sabotage and many other forms of description, but it would seem that this behaviour continues unabated.
“If this is, indeed, the work of the ATDF and its counterparts relating to the employment of illegal foreigners in the road freight [or any other] sector, then the responsible department of employment and labour, and its inspection structures, must ensure that their responsibility to protect employees and employers from non-compliant labour practices is strictly and swiftly applied,” Kelly said.
Truckers deny hand in latest attacks but vows protests
‘Truck companies are still employing foreign drivers’
Image: Tabloidnewspapers; The Ladysmith Herald
While the truck driver’s forum says it has nothing to do with the latest attack on trucks on the N3 at Van Reenen’s Pass yesterday morning, it is threatening to intensify protest action against foreign truckers.
Six trucks were torched in the early hours of Sunday in what the Road Freight Association (RFA) has described as a “co-ordinated attack”.
According to police minister Bheki Cele , one of the trucks in the queue at the N3 Concession Plaza had come under attack by occupants of a white vehicle who had forced it to a stop, opened fire on it and then burnt it. Other five trucks were also torched.
The RFA said the costs of the damage including the cargo could run between R18m and R60m.
Speaking to Sowetan yesterday, All Truck Drivers Forum and Allied SA ATDF ASA secretary Sifiso Nyathi said they signed a task team implementation plan document in June last year that would have ensured minimal employment of foreigns as truck drivers.
“We addressed these issues with the government and it was never sorted out. It is just people talking but nothing is done, companies are still employing foreign nationals.
Nyathi said they would protest soon about their grievances but did not say when.
Part of what is contained in the document that was signed, which Sowetan has seen, was the confirmation of driving licences and professional driving permits of foreign drivers, identifying foreign driving licences that were invalid and that all trucks transporting goods for gain or on behalf of the third party must register with the bargaining council.
But, according to Nyathi, none of these plans has been implemented.
“[The] government is fooling us because they are not taking any action against the employers,” Nyathi said.
RFA CEO Gavin Kelly also said the critical things from the task team implementation plans had not yet been implemented, adding that had they been implemented “I don’t think we would be where we are today”.
Kelly believes that the extension of the Zimbabwean Exemption Permits and the recent ruling around permits by the high court in Pretoria would “bring further headache”.
“It seems now it is going to drag this [government’s implementation plans] even further,” he said.
Kelly also said the proposed tightening of requirements for driving permits was “flawed” in the case where legitimate cross-border operations are conducted.
“The issue of PrDPs was what the department of transport thought was their silver bullet to addressing the number of foreign drivers driving vehicles in SA for SA companies,” he said.
On the issue of the recent attack on trucks, Kelly described it as “worrying”, adding that at this point, no group has taken responsibility for the attack.
Kelly said the incident was a “ruthless attack” on the road freight supply chain and the effects were far-reaching.
He also said the immediate short-term losses would run into millions of rand – the long-term impact “will be felt in terms of increased security costs into the cost of logistics, higher insurance premiums, higher Sasria cover premiums, higher toll fees, less freight movement through SA, closure of freight companies, loss of jobs”.
He said in the past the ATDF and its affiliates “quite often acknowledged” that they were behind the attacks, but were denying taking in yesterday’s one.
He said they suspected that the attack was driven by unhappiness relating to the employment of foreigners in the sector. He said these incidents had been happening for the past six years.
“We have heard the minister of police refer to economic sabotage and many other forms of description, but it would seem that this behaviour continues unabated.
“If this is, indeed, the work of the ATDF and its counterparts relating to the employment of illegal foreigners in the road freight [or any other] sector, then the responsible department of employment and labour, and its inspection structures, must ensure that their responsibility to protect employees and employers from non-compliant labour practices is strictly and swiftly applied,” Kelly said.
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