Harrismith, South Africa- The All Truck Drivers Forum and Allied South Africa (ATDF-ASA) are continuing with their strike that started on Tuesday aimed at addressing the employment of non-South African truck drivers.
‘In South Africa, there are 80 percent foreign nationals dominating the truck industry. Now these people are not mad, these are old people but when we are talking they are taking us as fools, but drivers are fed up now because employers are still employing foreigners. When you come to South Africans(sic), it does not matter how much experience you have, whether you have PDP or not, they put your CV aside.
Foreign truckers are being put ahead of South Africans. (They should) go to countries where there is a shortage of skills. Instead, they come to South Africa where there is an unemployment crisis. We say no to foreign drivers getting South African registrations. No company should continue working with foreign drivers. This protest will include all trucks, big and small, and we also demand that the petrol and diesel price must drop to R11.28,” said Sfiso Nyathi convenor of the ATDF-ASA.
Complaints raised by the group also included grievances with corrupt officials at Home Affairs and even the presence of security cameras inside their trucks.
The N3 Toll Concession’s Thania Dhoogra said the protest by truck drivers has affected traffic in both directions on the national route linking Johannesburg and Durban as they have blockaded Van Reenen’s Pass between Harrismith and Ladysmith adding that people travelling between the two cities should expect delays.
Van Reenen’s Pass stretches between the Drakensberg mountains between Ladysmith and Harrismith, along the N3 between Durban and Johannesburg.
Traffic police are also reportedly stopping trucks from entering the R74 from the Free State turnoff. Light motor vehicles may travel through Oliviershoek Pass but the road condition is still dangerous and motorists should exercise extreme caution and avoid travelling if possible.
“In KwaZulu-Natal, the Road Traffic Inspectorate is directing northbound (traffic) off the N3 at the Colenso/Frere interchange. Heavy traffic congestion and delays may be experienced in both directions of the N3 Toll Route,” said Dhoogra.
