The threatened protest by truckers has been suspended after the intervention by the government, which is determined that nothing will be allowed to disrupt next week’s elections.
The truckers threatened highway closures in protest at the hiring of foreign nationals in what could have been a repeat of the disruption caused when they blocked highways in KwaZulu-Natal after former president Jacob Zuma’s imprisonment on contempt of court charges in 2021. Major freight routes were brought to a standstill.
The stayaway threatened to disrupt the elections on May 29. Transport minister Sindisiwe Chikunga gave the assurance at a media briefing on Thursday evening that the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (Natjoints) had developed an operational plan that is being rolled out to ensure safe, secure national and provincial elections.
“The plan sufficiently covers the period before, during and after this most important national event to fully ensure a conducive environment for South Africans to exercise their right to vote,” Chikunga said.
The justice, crime prevention & security (JCPS) cluster “is co-ordinating the whole of government response to any threats or potential threats that may compromise the integrity and smooth running of elections”.
Chikunga referred to the threat by some trade unions and associations in the trucking sector to embark on a national protest, including the closure of major routes from May 20, to express their dissatisfaction.
She said the JCPS cluster and the department of employment & labour worked with the relevant trade unions, associations and other social partners to ensure the suspension of the planned protest.
Chikunga said the challenges in the trucking, freight and logistics sector would be attended to by government by legislative and enforcement measures.
Inspections
“To this end, ongoing operations, including joint inspections by the technical team, are focused on the enforcement of applicable laws and regulations that govern the conduct of operations in the freight and logistics sector.
“These include enforcement of transport-related legislation as led by the department of transport. The department looks at the validity of driving licences, registration of operators and the review of traffic register numbers, which is meant to be used as a temporary identity document until a foreigner is issued with appropriate permits and paperwork.”
The home affairs department continuously undertook compliance visits and inspections in line with the Immigration and Refugees Acts to determine whether a person is in the country legally and is in possession of valid work permits linked to the correct place of work.
The police was also involved in conducting stop and search actions, vehicle checkpoints and roadblocks, which Chikunga said were yielding positive results in addressing the challenges in the trucking, freight and logistics sector. In the past year, about 47,244 undocumented nationals were detected and detained during operations.
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