Journey’s end: Although KwaZulu-Natal has escaped much of the trucking violence that has rocked the country in the latest flare-up, the province has a history of attacks on road freight industry vehicles, particularly those driven by foreigners. (Jacques Stander)
Sihle Zikalala, the KwaZulu-Natal premier, has promised a lifeline to disgruntled South African truck drivers who have been protesting the “favouring” of foreign nationals in the road freight industry. But the president of the Southern African Development Community Cross-Border Drivers’ Association has told the Mail & Guardian that the move is little more than a superficial papering over established cracks.
“What the people doing the protesting won’t acknowledge is that we are in this situation [of foreigners being utilised by South African transporters] because local drivers do not want to venture into other African countries. They do not want to cross the borders, which is why this vacuum developed,” Rashid Alfonso told the M&G.
Alfonso, a Johannesburg-based Zimbabwean national who is in the country legally and working towards buying his own truck, heads the association.
While cross-border drivers have not been the specific target of the protests, in a volatile situation — as experienced in the past weeks —any foreign driver (or driver perceived to be foreign) is rendered fair game.
An eThekwini-based driver, who asked not to be named, said he had been threatened recently.
“They came to me and said: ‘What are you doing here? You must go back to your country. You are taking our jobs and our women.’ I have been in South Africa for seven years. I came here looking for work [because of the situation in Zimbabwe].”
The driver said those he worked with, the majority of whom are local, had no issues with foreign versus local drivers.
“It’s actually okay. [Our local driving colleagues] understand us, they know us. The violence doesn’t come from them; it comes from the unemployed drivers; they are the problem.”
Alfonso, whose association represents “about 10 000 drivers”, almost all in South Africa, with up to 2 000 based in KwaZulu-Natal, said all of his “guys had been threatened”.
The drivers are a mix of locals and foreigners.
On Sunday, Zikalala announced that an “emergency meeting” held last Friday with “key stakeholders in the trucking sector” had led to “important commitments” being made.
“We believe that if they are implemented successfully, [the commitments] will guarantee peace and stability in this all-important industry,” the premier said.
He said that in principle, it was agreed that “truck operators must with immediate effect prioritise the employment of South African drivers”.
It was also agreed, among other things, that foreign nationals driving South African-registered trucks must “hold a valid permit issued by the department of home affairs (DHA).”
The DHA work permit would only be issued upon offer of employment by the prospective employer in South Africa, he said.
“In the meantime, the truck operators have committed to providing at least 400 new jobs, and these will prioritise South Africans. We will engage the department of labour and employment to manage the database of prospective drivers, which will be submitted by the driver associations, including the All Truck Drivers Foundation and the National Drivers’ Federation.”
Perhaps rather ambitiously, Zikalala said the provincial government had “a firm commitment from the [protesting local] drivers that there will be no burning of trucks or the blocking of any road or entry to the Port of Durban.”
When the premier was asked how these interventions would be different from those of previous years, his spokesperson, Lennox Mabaso, said: “The difference is that due to the interventions by the premier, the planned shutdown was suspended by the truck drivers.”
“The roadmap is a middle ground to bring stability and end the impasse that is crippling the economy and investments,” Mabaso said.
Asked why basic legislation was not being enforced, Mabaso placed the blame at the feet of truck owners.
He told the M&G that the 400 proposed new jobs for local truckers were “part of their contribution to finding [a] solution”.
Alfonso said it was “true” that locals should be first in line for employment, but that “for some transporters, it is not practical only to employ locals”.
He said that as far as cross-border trucking was concerned, an inability to speak local languages could be a barrier and that in KwaZulu-Natal, in particular, it was known as “a silent symbol that South Africans don’t want to speak other [African] languages”.
“I speak numerous African languages, I can go all the way to the DRC,” he said.
Alfonso said he agreed that there was an “outer hand pushing the violence” in the country’s road freight industry.
This theory was proposed by the Road Freight Association chief executive, Gavin Kelly, who told the M&G the attacks on trucks were coordinated and done with “military precision”.
Said Alfonso: “It may be politically motivated because there are elections next year”.
He dismissed reports that the association would “retaliate” if attacks resumed.
“The nature of communication these days is a danger to society. It was said on social media that foreigners would retaliate. [My association] has never said that.”
Trucking was a dangerous vocation, he said. While the xenophobic threats experienced in South Africa were “not a problem” in other African countries, crime was, which could also be off-putting to local drivers.
A Zimbabwean truck driver living in the country legally told the M&G that he drives locally, transporting containers in Durban and around the province.
“When there is work, I can work for days on end, and only come home to get food and go back,” he said.
“The situation is bad in Zimbabwe. I came here for a better life. I am legal. I have all the permits and papers necessary. I am expecting threats because I am driving day and night. [In this climate] anything can happen. I don’t have a gun or any other protection.”
The man said his employer treated him well, “100%” and that they had spoken about what to do if he was confronted with violence or potentially violent situations.
“He has told me to wait until the [volatility] dies down, if there is any around, or to return to the yard and wait there.”
His wife was “very, very worried”, said the driver, “especially when I am working at night”.
Asked about Premier Zikalala’s comments that the industry in the province should prioritise local drivers, the man said: “It’s not good.”
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