Two heavy vehicles were set alight on June 2 on the N3/R23 bridge next to Berg-en-Dal. When Heidelberg Police arrived on the scene around 20:00, gunshots were fired. One suspect was arrested and according to Col Amanda Viljoen (station commander at Heidelberg SAPS) appeared in court on June 4 on charges of malicious damage to property and attempted murder.
Meanwhile the N3 Toll Concession has warned road users to avoid night-time travel if possible. N3TC commercial manager Con Roux said in a statement that in light of recent disruptive protests, incidents of criminality and attempts to obstruct the free flow of traffic on some of the country’s major transport networks including the N3 toll route, motorists should avoid night-time travel.
“It is advisable to rather plan long distance trips during daylight hours.”
“Disruptive actions by protesters, mostly aimed at the trucking industry, are often opportunistic and unpredictable and mostly occur under the cover of darkness. It is also not limited to a specific area/location or route,” said the statement.
Direct, deadly attacks on SA truck drivers are getting worse, rocks being hurled directly at truck drivers is “something new” as a spate of attacks on the “soft targets” plays out on the country’s roads – some of them deadly. That was the warning sounded by Road Freight Association (RFA) CEO Gavin Kelly on May 15, as reports of more rock-throwing and looting incidents emerged.
“Throwing rocks or stones from overhead bridges is something new. We’ve had rocks placed on the road or roads being closed off to bring the truck to a standstil and then burnt. But these incidents now are attacks directly on the driver,” Kelly said.
According to the association’s database, 320 people – nearly one person a day on average – died in the road freight industry over the past year due to crime or violent service delivery protests.
Incidents reported to the association indicated that 1,300 trucks had been damaged or destroyed over the past year.
Collating the information, the association estimated the damage to property from destroyed trucks, trailers, the loss of labour, medical expenses and associated costs to be in the region of R1bn. Transport delays were estimated to have cost the industry about R1.5bn.
Kelly said safety was a major concern as trucks were soft targets, but clamping down was a problem as “there seems to be no rationale or modus operandi about why it happens.”
“One does not know where the next incident is going to happen,” Kelly said.
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