WATCH: Chaos and congestion as N2 freeway is blocked by coal tipper trucks
Some truckers claim they had been stuck there for almost three days with no food or water
Coal tipper trucks have completely blocked the N2 between the Canefields turn-off and the John Ross highway.
Both lanes (north and south bounds) are blocked, and motorists are now using the R102 to gain access onto the John Ross highway.
Some truckers claim they had been stuck there for almost three days with no food or water.
ALSO READ: WATCH: Truck backlog causes nightmare for N2 farmers
“The problem is at the harbour. We do not know what is happening. We do not have any communication with them. Trucks are coming in big numbers. If this problem persists the entire N2 from the eNseleni turn-off will be completely blocked.
“We are going through a tough time because we do not even have water to bath and to drink. We do not have a toilet to use.
“As for the traffic congestion, I think authorities need to provide us with a truck stop where we can park our trucks while waiting for the habour to call us in, otherwise, there is no other solution to this problem,” he said.
ALSO READ: Transnet cuts volume of trucks calling at Port of Richards Bay
One motorist, who did not want to be named, said she is lucky to have escaped a serious head-on-collision with one of the trucks on Thursday morning.
“I was driving from Empangeni towards eNseleni – trucks are queuing on the yellow lines on both sides of the road, all the way up to the eNseleni bridge and towards Mtubatuba.
“They are blocking motorists coming from either sides from seeing each other and we are all then forced to drive in the middle of the road without any clear vision of the road ahead.
“As a result, I almost collided with a truck trying to avoid getting hit by an oncoming vehicle. If I had not stopped the way that I did, I would have driven straight into it.
“It has become an absolute nightmare, it is complete chaos and very dangerous,” she said.
City of uMhlathuze’s Ward 2 Councillor, Christo Botha said the ongoing problem with the coal side tipper trucks was a result of a management failure on the part of Transnet.
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