Overloaded by 25 tons
CAPE Town's first overload bust for 201 9 saw an operator fined R42,000 for being overloaded by at least 25 tons. The truck carrying two 20-foot containers was taken by the Cape Town city council's road haulage unit from Paarden Island to the N7 weighbridge. The truck was so heavy, two tyres burst on the way and had to be repaired. The road haulage unit told said 1 in 3 trucks are overloaded in the Western Cape, and the unit has since July 201 8 collected over a million rand in fines. After the tyres were replaced, the operator received 11 fines for all the issues on the overloaded truck. --DR.
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News to inspire professional drivers of all size vehicles in southern Africa
January 201 9
Making enemies, losing friends
IT started with a tweet to warn trucks have closed South Africa's busiest highway where the road bottlenecks on Van Reenen's Pass. This is not unusual on a Sunday night, when this stretch of road has been blocked by anything from snow to a military tank that fell of a lorrie. But this time, the closure was deliberate, with four truck drivers who blocked both the pass and then went on the prowl for "foreign" drivers, seting fire to any truck whose driver did not answer their demands. Several drivers run away, fearing the mob. Traffic officers could only wait for reinforcements, which arrived five hours later at 3 am. Tow trucks moved four trucks that blocked the highway near Pyramids Motel and police arrested four drivers. The next day, transport minister Blade Nzimande condemned the protest. Nzimande said he had met the leadership of the South African trucking industry in
The tweet that warned travellers a few truckers were blocking the N3 highway.
Durban two days before the protest (Friday) to hear why drivers had protested in 2018, with opportunistic looting and burning of trucks at the Mooi River toll plaza. The drivers' main gripe is the number of foreign nationals who drive at lower wages. "This unfortunate (latest) action by truck drivers is not in keeping with the letter and spirit of our meeting held this past Friday, where I met with the leadership of
the All Truck Drivers Foundation and the National Truck Drivers Association to address challenges facing South African truck drivers," Nzimande said. "This is nothing but negotiating in bad faith on the part of some of the leaders of the truck drivers." He said the parties to the meeting agreed to constitute a team led by his department, incorporating other departments including home affairs and labour, as
well as the bargaining council and drivers' representatives. "Guided by the law and applicable legislation, as government we remain steadfast to resolve this issue that is beginning to bedevil the South African trucking industry," Nzimande said. The government would not tolerate the lawlessness, anarchy and sabotage demonstrated by some truck drivers, he added.
He applauded law enforcement agencies for "their swift response in arresting those responsible for this malicious act which seeks to undermine the efforts by government and truck drivers’ associations who are committed to resolve this matter within the ambit of the law". On their Facebook page, the All Truck Drivers Foundation had one post: "we need all SA citizen truck drivers to join and unite to save our jobs from being taken away from us to the foreign nationals." FleetWatch editor Patrick O Leary said he could not fathom who would conduct their protest in a manner that would ensure no one sympathised with their cause.
"By blocking roads and burning trucks, they are setting themselves up for failure in getting any action on the message they are trying to get through." -- DR.