South African truckers stage protest against foreign drivers

A planned demonstration by truck drivers in South Africa to pressure their government to ban drivers from abroad has been suspended indefinitely.

The All Truck Drivers Forum and Allied South Africa (ATDF-ASA) accuses foreign drivers, including Zimbabweans, of trying to take jobs away from them. Zimbabwean drivers make up a significant proportion of foreigners driving trucks in South Africa.

A similar demonstration a few years ago turned violent and resulted in the deaths of foreign drivers while thousands of dollars worth of trucks were set on fire following a nationwide ATDF-ASA shutdown in KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and Mpumalanga and other provinces in South Africa was carried out .

According to media reports in South Africa, the government’s national joint security team on Sunday this week called on freight drivers to report their grievances under the law, adding that lawlessness will not be tolerated.

“There will be zero tolerance for threats, intimidation and the closure of our roads. Law enforcement agencies are on high alert to ensure that there is no criminal activity and no inconvenience is caused to law-abiding citizens,” the team said in a statement.

ATDF-ASA opposes the employment of non-South African drivers while calling on the ministries of labor and home affairs to conduct regular inspections to enforce this.

The group announced last Friday that it would implement a nationwide shutdown in protest against foreign drivers.

“Bring our jobs back, South Africans first” ATDF-ASA and South African drivers are fed up with this government’s empty promises. National shutdown, all drivers will be discouraged until this government meets our demands. Date May 20, 2024,” the group said in a post last week.

“We don’t want foreigners in the trucking industry.”

The forum confirmed that the protest planned for yesterday had been temporarily suspended following an urgent meeting with stakeholders on Sunday.

Meanwhile, an association representing drivers from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region said it was closely monitoring the situation.

Sadc Drivers Association representative Edward Muchatuta said on Sunday that they would mobilize structures in the region to protect truck drivers registered in South Africa.

“If the ATDF-ASA starts attacking other drivers, our structures will stop all registered drivers in South Africa from moving to protect our members from attacks. We will also not guarantee the safety of any driver operating a truck registered in South Africa if a Sadc driver is attacked in this country,” he said.

“We call on the ATDF-ASA to involve other drivers in the region and to stop allowing themselves to be exploited by politicians. As Sadc drivers and workers in general, we should unite and fight the capitalists as one. Fighting among ourselves will prolong the struggle as our factions will defend their territories, a development that will worsen the (exploitation) of workers,” he added.