An association representing foreign truck drivers has called for government intervention after assaults by locals they accuse of unlawfully confiscating their documents including drivers’ permits as turf wars continue unabated in the R480bn road freight and logistics industry.
David Mfitshani, one of the leaders of the United Truck Drivers Association, said their members would embark on a five-day stayaway from January 31 to February 4 to raise awareness about increasing acts of violence on SA’s roads targeting foreign truck drivers.
If the stayaway goes ahead it could hurt an economy still reeling from the effects of the unrest in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal that followed the jailing of former president Jacob Zuma. Warehouses were stripped bare and set alight and trucks torched, during mayhem that cost the economy an estimated R50bn.
When violence in the trucking sector broke out in the past few years, local drivers accused foreigners of taking their jobs and criticised employers for preferring cheaper foreign drivers.
The turf wars — which have cost the economy about R2bn — have claimed more than 200 lives and are threatening the survival of the crucial sector that employs more than 300,000 people.
In November 2020 President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed a team of ministers including Fikile Mbalula (transport), Thulas Nxesi (employment & labour), and Aaron Motsoaledi (home affairs) to look into the torching of trucks on the country’s roads and submit a report to him.
Speaking to Business Day on Friday, Mfitshani said “not enough is being done” by the government to bring about labour peace in the sector.
“We see ordinary people, civilians, conducting road blocks and taking our legal documents away including our driving permits. They intimidate us,” said Mfitshani.
A foreign truck driver who spoke to Business Day on condition of anonymity for fear of being victimised, said: “We have been trying to get the government’s attention, to say to them that foreign truck drivers are being killed, burnt and abused. The least we expect is for perpetrators to be arrested.”
He said some of his colleagues were considering “going back to their countries”.
Mbalula’s acting spokesperson Lawrence Venkile said the interministerial committee was led by Nxesi and referred questions to Nxesi’s spokesperson Sabelo Mali, who said: “The minister remains committed to the last resolutions of the recent meeting with truck drivers’ associations a few weeks ago. Key to the resolutions was the need for continuous dialogue, registration of truck drivers associations to [the] bargaining council and an immediate end to violence and victimisation.”
Gavin Kelly, CEO of the Road Freight Association (RFA), told Business Day that the first bit of information that needed to be ascertained was how many foreign truck drivers “are actually present in the industry”.
He said this was difficult to answer because the RFA only knew of the legal foreign drivers who are employed by compliant transport companies, that is, those registered with the National Bargaining Council for the Road Freight and Logistics Industry (NBCRFLI) and who have registered their foreign employees with the department of employment & labour, and department of home affairs where required.
“In the NBCRFLI — which has over 102,000 registered employees in the sector — roughly 10,000 are foreigners (and these are not only drivers, they include other jobs/careers as well).”
“The problem lies with those who choose not to comply. This then answers whether the government is doing enough. No, it is not and it has not taken up all the proposals we have made that will go a long way to resolve the matter,” Kelly said.
Kelly said the RFA had proposed to Mbalula that any road transporter, when applying for an operator card, must provide proof of registration with the NBCRFLI; SA Revenue Service; department of employment & labour; and a registered independent road freight industry association.
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