A general view of burnt out goods after a Pick n Pay truck was torched along the N1 in Klipheuwel on July 08, 2020 in Cape Town, South Africa. It is reported that both the N7 and N1 were affected by protests after a nationwide call for truck drivers to stop operating to protest the employment of foreign drivers. The truck drivers also threatened to shut down the whole country. (Photo by Jacques Stander/Gallo Images via Getty Images)
Foreign truck drivers working in South Africa illegally and those who employ them will soon feel the pressure from new legislation, which puts stricter restrictions on migrants working in this sector.
South African truck drivers recently embarked on a nationwide strike demanding that the government and trucking companies prioritise hiring locals over foreign drivers.
In response, the ministries of employment and labour; police and home affairs jointly said they would be reviewing policies to clamp down on foreign truck drivers working without the necessary permits, including harsher measures against the companies that employ them.
This comes after the department of transport in April published an amendment to the Road Traffic Act, which will make it illegal to drive a South African-registered truck using a foreign professional driving permit.
The government should already have acted, says Arnoux Maré, the managing director of truck driver training and testing centre Innovative Learning Solutions: “Stricter controls for enforcing South African driving permits on foreign drivers are long overdue, and government should have prioritised this a long time ago.”
According to Gavin Kelly, chief executive of The Road Freight Association, the Basic Conditions of Employment Act stipulates simple processes for foreigners who have the correct documentation to be employed in South Africa, but some companies flout them.
“Had this been properly managed and controlled then we would not be where we are today, where those employers who wish to cut corners, defy legislation and pay wages well below the minimum get away with it,” he said.
The transport sector is a cornerstone of the South African economy: according to database platform Statista, in 2020 the transport, storage and communication industries contributed approximately R231.9-billion to GDP.
The transport and communication sectors were the most significant drivers when the economy expanded by 1.2% to R1 131-billion in the second quarter of 2021, according to Statistics South Africa (StatsSA), contributing 6.9% to GDP.
Employment
Employment in the sector has, however, not been equally robust. According to the latest quarterly employment statistics survey released by Stats SA in September, employment in the transport sector declined by 1.5% year-on-year to 453 000 jobs in the quarter to June, compared with 460 000 jobs over the same period in 2020.
If South Africa is to slash its record high unemployment numbers, “then it is time for the government to implement decisive policies that demonstrate real commitment to solving South Africa’s economic challenges, such as low-hanging fruit [jobs] in the transportation sector,” said Maré.
Kelly agreed that the new government policy may create chances for employment for locals, but cautioned that it would not suddenly open up thousands of jobs as “there will be a process, a difficult one, of ensuring legally employed foreigners are either protected or correctly removed from the system”.
Global shortage
A global shortage of truck drivers, causing logistical nightmares for the transport sector, is an important cautionary tale. The reason often cited is that there are not enough new drivers entering the workforce as veterans retire.
While there is no shortage of drivers in South Africa, many individuals with driving licences do not want to work the long hours required and this is true across the world, Kelly said.
Then there are drivers who want to be involved in only specific types of transport rather than general cargo — or those who only want to work short-distance (local) jobs so they can be home with their families every day.
“There may just be no appetite for the work — and that is why you find that foreigners will be prepared to do the work,” Kelly said.
Maré concedes that South Africa does have a shortage of skilled and experienced drivers. “We are struggling to close the gaps of getting skilled truck drivers. We don’t have a shortage of truck drivers; we have a shortage of very skilled and accredited truck drivers,” he said.
Retaliation?
The distinction between foreign and local truck drivers is not xenophobic, as critics have charged, but a case of South Africa having to look out for South Africans first, Maré insists.
“South Africa does have a history of xenophobic action which is definitely not the way to go. But, do I believe that South Africans should have the first opportunity to get positions? Of course! It is our economy, it is our people and we need to look after ours first,” he said, adding that there was nothing wrong with properly documented foreign nationals working in the country legally.
Kelly noted that some of South Africa’s neighbours have similar regulations in place, such as that trucks can only be driven by citizens in the domiciled registration country of the vehicle. “This [stricter policy] will not be something unique to South Africa should it come to pass,” he said. “Other countries have also imposed quotas on certain cargo into and out of their countries, prescribing that only local transport companies may move such cargo.”
But he warned: “South Africa will have to be very careful in terms of what reaction might be forthcoming from our neighbours.”
Kelly said with the African Continental Free Trade Area having commenced with trade as of 1 January 2021 and fully coming into operation, “all of this may be moot, depending on how countries enter the agreement”.
The policies considered by the government to reserve employment for locals instead of foreign truck drivers may lose relevance when trading in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) goes full steam ahead.
AfCFTA was created from the African Continental Free Trade Agreement among 54 of the 55 AU nations. The only country that has not signed the agreement is Eritrea.
The agreement is aimed at creating a single continental market for goods and services. It also requires members to remove tariffs allowing free access and movement of commodities, goods, and services across the continent.
Trade in the AfCFTA commenced from 1 January 2021.
Anathi Madubela is an Adamela Trust business reporter at the Mail & Guardian
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