Trucking sector turmoil: Crime prevention cluster guarantees safety around elections

Firefighters try to extinguish a burning truck after it was burnt and looted during the Pro-Zuma protests in the CBD on 11 July 2021 in Durban. (Photo: Gallo Images / Volksblad / Mlungisi Louw)

By Bheki C. Simelane

24 May 2024

Amid the turmoil stemming mainly from the illegal hiring of foreign truck drivers in the road freight trucking and logistics sector, ministers in the Justice Crime Prevention and Security Cluster (JCPS) have guaranteed everyone’s safety before and after the national elections taking place in a few days.

The JCPS said it had developed and was ready to roll out an operational plan to ensure safe and secure 2024 national and provincial elections.

“The operational plan sufficiently covers the period before, during and after this most important national event so as to fully ensure a conducive environment for South Africans to exercise their right to vote,” Transport minister Sindisiwe Chikunga said.

The cluster expressed its readiness to assist in resolving any challenges that may pose a threat to the country’s ability to conduct incident-free elections.

There have not been any reported significant threats to the elections, but a few acts of intolerance.

A dense layer of ash and a piece of wreckage is all that remains of a truck set on fire by protesters in Motherwell on 16 August 2022 in Gqeberha. (Photo: Gallo Images / Die Burger / Lulama Zenzile)

Assaults

This week it emerged via some DA members that they were assaulted while putting up their party posters. EFF member Carl Niehaus also reported being attacked while putting up his party posters in Rosebank, Johannesburg.

However, the biggest threat of all came in the form of a truckers strike last week. Strike actions organised by the trucking industry have often been characterised by extreme acts of violence, including the closure of crucial freeways (because of the commodities moved) and the burning of trucks.

Usually, when violence in the sector erupts, it directly affects the country’s economy as the road freight and logistics sector is a significant contributor, and the economy has been grappling with undergrowth for some years.

The strike action was suspended after organising bodies the All Truck Drivers Foundation and Allied South Africa (ATDF-ASA) said they had had urgent engagements with other stakeholders.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Strike lingers as SA truckers demand freight industry rids itself of foreign drivers

The National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NATJOINTS) said it has established a safety and security coordination centre in Tshwane, that it has identified some hotspots and also that some new vehicles will be deployed in the identified hotspot areas.

“This means the JCPS cluster stands ready to assist in resolving any challenge that may pose a threat to the country’s ability to conduct incident free elections,” the JCPS said.

“One such threat pertains to the Road, Logistics and Freight Industry, where the problems within the industry have resulted in some trade unions and associations in the trucking sector threatening to embark on a national protest including the closure of major routes from 20 May 2024, as a way of expressing their dissatisfaction,” minister Chikunga said.

Planned strike

The JCPS said the truckers strike was averted after collaborative efforts between the Department of Employment and Labour, the relevant trade unions, associations and other social partners.

Speaking to Daily Maverick last week about the truckers strike, Road Freight Association CEO Gavin Kelly said the agreed-upon 11-point plan must be implemented as a way of dealing with the turmoil in the sector.

“The government is fully aware of the outstanding work regarding the implementation of the 11-Points Action Plan as agreed to with the Road, Logistics and Freight Task team,” the JCPS said.

A truck on fire between Allandale road and New Road offramp on the M1 south in Midrand, in November 2008. (Photo: Gallo Images / Felix Dlangamandla)

Interventions

“We would like to reiterate that the challenges in the trucking, freight and logistics sector are well known to government and that various government departments have been attending to the matter through both legislative and enforcement measures,” the JCPS said in Pretoria on Friday.

“The slow pace in the implementation of the enforcement measures culminated in the JCPS Ministers’ Cluster plus the Department of Employment and Labour prioritising a focused action on the enforcement measures.”

The JCPS said its focus was on enforcement of applicable laws and regulations governing the conduct of operations in the freight and logistics sector, including the enforcement of transport related legislation as led by the Department of Transport.

Enforcement is also one of the measures making up the collaborative 11 point plan.

The JCPS said the department of employment and labour will be scrutinising the validity of driving licences, registration of operators in terms of section 45 of the National Road Traffic Act and reviewing of traffic register numbers meant to be used as a temporary identity document until a foreigner is issued with appropriate permits and paperwork.

Home Affairs compliance

The cluster said the Department of Home Affairs was also enforcing compliance through 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 JCPS said from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, through its immigration services, Home Affairs effected several arrests, which resulted in deportations.

“In this period, Home Affairs arrested 67,853 illegal immigrants with more arrests effected in Gauteng at 31,554 and Limpopo at 11,859, being the highest.”

The JCPS further said a total of 2,504 South African employers were also arrested and charged in terms of Section 49(3) of the Immigration Act, 2002 for contravening the Immigration Act, 2002, by illegally employing foreigners.

One employer was arrested and charged in terms of Section 38 of the Immigration Act, 2002, for employing two Mozambican Nationals as cleaners, and was fined R10,000 in Ekurhuleni.

In the Western Cape two truck drivers were arrested while driving with visitors’ visas and processed for deportation.

Articulating to some of their successes in apprehending the suspects, the cluster reported that a total of 34,684 deportations of foreigners who are in the country illegally resulted from the mass arrests.

trucking industry Firefighters try to extinguish a burning truck after it was burnt and looted during the Pro-Zuma protests in the CBD on 11 July 2021 in Durban. (Photo: Gallo Images / Volksblad / Mlungisi Louw)

Borders and security

“The formation of the Border Management Authority is also a major achievement in strengthening security along our borders to address the challenge of illegal border crossings,” the JCPS said.

Though still not yet fully resourced, the newly launched Border Management Authority is expected to eventually go a long way in addressing the contentious issue of porous borders and smuggling of illicit goods.

The JCPS said employment and labour inspections were also ongoing to ensure compliance.

The JCPS said in the past year, Operation Shanela has also arrested 47,244 undocumented nationals.

Calls for foreigners not to be hired in the trucking industry in the country have been coming in thick and fast and gained momentum in the last 24 months, with the ATDF usually in the forefront of those calls.

The ATDF have often accused Employment and Labour minister Thulas Nxesi of failing to enforce applicable labour laws. South African truck drivers have often argued that foreign truck drivers should not be hired because driving a truck is not a scarce skill.

At one point, South African drivers under the tutelage of the ATDF called for the Zimbabwe Exemption Permits to be abolished to discourage the employment of illegal foreign nationals in the trucking sector.

“As the JCPS Cluster, we would like to send a categorically clear message to everyone in the trucking, freight and logistics sector to ensure compliance with the country’s laws.” DM

Categories:

Tags:

DM is much better if you are signed in...

Politics

Planned strike

Interventions

Home Affairs compliance

Borders and security