R33/R34/R66 communities to close route to side-tipper trucks
Notice has been issued as community members intervene
COMMUNITIES living along the R33, R34 and R66 routes that have in recent weeks become inundated with side-tipper trucks, are warning of closure of the road from tomorrow (Thursday).
Areas affected by the sudden influx of heavy-duty trucks, owing to the diversion of these from the N2 at Pongola, include Ermelo, Piet Retief, Paulpietersburg, Vryheid, Melmoth and Utrecht.
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Addressing the notice to ‘all concerned, in particular, to all owners and drivers of the thousands of abnormal load side-tipper coal trucks that are currently traversing the abovementioned roads and areas’, the action group, referring to themselves as the R33/R34/R66 JOC group, said this action is necessitated by the extremely devastating and dangerous consequences that the current state of affairs has on the people and infrastructure of the involved communities.
“It must be emphasised that the actions now taken and planned by the involved communities should not be viewed as a vendetta against owners of legally-owned trucks driven by law-abiding drivers,” said the statement.
“The situation has, however, become so dangerous and damaging to the communities involved that they are left with no other option but to resort to peaceful civil action in a desperate attempt to prevent further violations of their human rights, the threat to human lives, and the irreversible damage caused to the road infrastructure that these communities depend on for their socio-economic survival.”
The group cited the state of disrepair of the R33 and R66 as a reason coal-carrying trucks should refrain from using these routes, and highlighted the R33 between the Pongola bridge and Vryheid as not being designed to accommodate the ‘thousands of trucks and the high axle loads to which the routes in question are currently exposed’.
They said for the short term, coal trucks should be instructed to use alternative routes to Richards Bay and in the long term, coal should be transported via the Richards Bay rail facility from the coal fields to the Bay.
“In a desperate attempt to stop the present unacceptable situation from prevailing any longer, the R33, R34 and R66 will be closed to all trucks carting coal on these routes as from Thursday, 20 October 2022,” said the statement.
They said barriers will be erected at various locations along these routes.
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