THE destruction of road infrastructure, the environment and the endangerment of lives because of trucks on the roads inspired the protest action yesterday (Tuesday, 24 October) in Quality Street, Jacobs.
Led by SDCEA director and activist, Desmond D’Sa, the peaceful protestors were vocal about their thoughts on trucks and some revealed their daily first-hand experience with trucks.
The protest aimed to highlight concerns about the obstacle posed by trucks, their owners and depots and the significant impacts on the lives of residents. “Our safety needs to be made a priority. We refuse to compromise, be silent; we stand up and stand united to put an end to this chaos,” he added.
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D’Sa said he receives countless complaints from residents about trucks blocking and causing havoc on the roads. “Heavy duty trucks enter logistics depots situated all along these two locations, bringing in goods from all over the country to be offloaded. This causes traffic to bottleneck, inflicts major damage to our roads, leads to accidents, lawlessness and the loss of many lives as a result. Trucking continues to pose severe risks to all road users. We urge all community members to join these protests to express the displeasure currently experienced on our roads. Quality Street and Solomon Mahlangu Drive are used by local motorists and pedestrians, who are mostly school learners, and the trucks pose a great danger to the safety of all road users,” he said.
D’sa believes an improved use of the rail system will resolve the trucking problem but instead more trucks are on the roads. With over a million trucks in the city, he feels the city’s roads are deteriorating from the damage they cause.
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A trucker’s wife, who chose not to be named said the problem lies with the low rates the drivers are paid and believe if they had better rates, drivers would care about road safety, “It also lies with the owners, my husband is a truck driver. I never see him but when I do, he is always tired, always beaten from driving every day. If owners cared about the drivers, about the conditions of their vehicles instead of how much loads they can transport in a week, we will have safer trucks and happier drivers,” she said.
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Project manager of SDCEA, Chadley Joseph said the idea is not to shut down the trucking industry because that would cause the loss of millions of jobs. Rather they need to establish a working relationship with truck companies and SDCEA to sort out the main issues. “We want to work together towards a sustainable way forward,” he said.
The next protest will be on Saturday, 28 October and eager residents who would like to join in should gather at the corner of Solomon Mahlangu Drive and South Coast Road from 9am to noon.
WATCH: Desmond D’sa from SDCEA protests against trucks
