Truck attacks should have been anticipated but ‘there’s no plan or intelligence’

The spike in truck attacks in parts of the country over the past few days is the most telling example of how the police have lost the war against crime.

These are the strong views of retired police officer and criminologist Hennie Lochner.

No intelligence or plan

Speaking to The Citizen, Lochner said the attacks also show that the law enforcement’s intelligence ability no longer exists.

“Everyone including government is aware that all these attacks have been happening on the country’s major economic routes and everyone knows that something needs to be done to arrest the problem but nothing is being done.

“Similar attacks preceded the July 2021 unrest and again this time around there has been no plan whatsoever to even stop these attacks from happening… I mean when a national sports team wants to take part in a World Cup tournament, a lot of plans are put in place years in advance but when it comes to our law enforcers, there is just no plan whatsoever,” said Lochner.

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Lochner said while these attacks have over the years been against the employment of foreign truck drivers, the possibility of them having a political undertone cannot be ruled out.

“You have a minister of police [Bheki Cele] who is always declaring war every time a criminal incident happens, and I must say every time he used those words, he himself declared war and never spoke about how his ministry is going to prevent such criminal activities from taking place.

“Our intelligence is just non-existent,” Lochner added.

Many truck drivers and owners have expressed concern over their safety amid the attacks, which have taken place in four consecutive nights along major routes of KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga.

Another policing expert from the Institute for Security Studies, Lizette Lancaster, say the culprits seem to be using “guerrilla tactics” in order to ambush and hijack the trucks before setting them alight. This makes it difficult for the police to catch them.

Truck attacks should have been expected

Lancester said the latest incidents could have been anticipated for a number of reasons.

“The first reason is that it is the anniversary of the July unrest, which started in a similar way with the blocking of roads and the torching of trucks. And when we look at where these attacks happen, they are happening fairly randomly but around the hotspots that are normally associated with these type of attacks.

“The second reason is that the All Truckers Forum has come out publicly to state that they are still dissatisfied with arrangements and promises by government to limit the number of foreign drivers in the country and that they should have stricter laws around these requirements, but nothing has happened,” said Lancaster.

She said the possibility of sinister forces being behind the attacks can also not be ruled out.

“We know that many of the trucks being ambushed in Mpumalanga are coal trucks, including trucks around the Transnet ports, and therefore it could be that [the culprits] are testing the security responses, but until we hear from government on what it has found through its intelligence networks and people arrested and appearing in court, we can only speculate,” Lancaster said.

Speaking on behalf of trucking business SA Truck King, Afzal Hamed said what’s worrying about the recent attacks is that no one is claiming responsibility.

“These attacks normally have to do with labour issues and in particular the hiring of foreign nationals but we get this detail before time, but nothing of the sort this time around,” said Hamed.

Attacks happening in North West too

Hamed said the attacks on trucks, which have been happening for several years now, have also been taking place in North West.

“There was another incident last week between Klerksdorp and Wolmaransstad on the busy N12 road where multiple shots were fired at a truck.

“The suspects thought they hit the driver and waited for the truck to go off the road but the driver didn’t and instead blocked them [suspects] from trying to pass again,” said Hamed.