No work permit, no insurance payout – Freight association warns truck drivers

The recent restaurant crackdown by the Department of Employment and Labour, which left several undocumented foreign nationals behind bars, has influenced the freight industry to set its eyes on truck companies to see if everything is above board.

Many factors determine whether insurance will pay out a claim. One of the factors that come into play concerning foreign truck drivers is whether they have a valid work permit.

Gavin Kelly, CEO of the Road Freight Association told Lester Kiewit of Cape Talk that insurers will not pay out a claim should they find out that the truck driver doesn’t have a South African valid work permit.

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Foreign truck drivers

Kelly touched on the fact that neighbouring countries’ driver’s licenses, like Lesotho’s are valid to be used in the country.

Noting how driver’s licences from African countries like Lesotho can be used when driving in South Africa, Kelly said foreign nationals who have foreign driver’s licenses and are employed by a South African truck company need to have a valid work permit. “By law, any foreigner employed in the country must have a valid work permit.”

Travelling between borders

He explained that truck drivers only need a valid work permit of the country they are employed in, irrespective of whether they deliver goods to other countries.

“For example, if a foreigner is employed by a South African company, it does not matter if he gets an accident in another country, what will matter to the insurance company is if he has the necessary documentation.”

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Restaurant crackdown

In September, the Department of Employment and Labour went on a four-day-long inspection into whether restaurants adhere to the country’s labour laws. The inspection was sparked by Babel restaurant in Menlyn, Pretoria, being investigated for labour law violations.

Authorities visited well-known establishments such as TANG to see if there were any violations. Following the raid, it was alleged that TANG’s human resources manager had been arrested. The Founder and CEO of the establishment which claims to have the “highest paid” staff members in the industry, Nicky van der Walt, quickly dismissed the allegations.

“Our HR manager was never arrested nor charged with any malpractice; she was interviewed in relation to employee record verification.” He said TANG’s waitrons are among the highest paid in the industry, with average earnings ranging from R20,000 to R60,000 per month.

Valid work permits

The establishment based in Sandton had four of its employees taken into custody due to invalid work permits. Van der Walt said one of the four presented a valid permit, while the other three stated they were in the process of renewing their expired ones.

He, however, said the three had valid work permits when they were initially hired.

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