OVER 50 LOCAL TRUCK DRIVERS ARRESTED IN SA

MBABANE – Violence in South Africa involving truck drivers has reached extreme levels.

The latest developments are that over 50 emaSwati have been arrested in Kwa-Zulu Natal.
The arrests were allegedly made this week following raids by the South African police officers in that country, who demanded work permits from foreign truck drivers.

KwaZulu-Natal has been experiencing frequent attacks on trucks, with many of them being torched along the N3 Highway, a critical route between the Durban port and inland.

Following the spate of violence that saw expatriate truck drivers, including emaSwati, being on the receiving end of hostility, a meeting of stakeholders was held. During the meeting by the stakeholders, trucking companies said they would not tolerate attacks on their drivers. Leading to the meeting of stakeholders, there was a notice intended for foreign truck drivers that was posted in a number of taxi ranks in Pinetown. The notice was giving the expatriates until June 2, 2019, to leave that republic of face dire consequences.

Permits

Information gathered by this publication is to the effect that in the past two weeks, expatriate truck drivers, including emaSwati, have been arrested for not possessing the valid worked permits and are currently kept at some of the South African Correctional facilities.
This has raised fears among other local truck drivers who are calling upon the Eswatini Government to intervene immediately regarding the matter.

The local truck drivers based in SA have created a group called ‘Likhambi LemaSwati’ where they were venting their frustration over the matter and also seeking guidance on it. Among other things raised was that some of them were released from prison but lost their jobs and forfeited all their benefits from their places of employment.

In the past, the truck drivers said they paid bail and managed to go back to work.
However, this time, they said this had changed as they were fired after they were released from jail.
 “We are worried as the employers are also getting means of ridding us without paying us all our benefits. We will come back home empty handed, let alone that we would no longer be able to feed our families,” they lamented.

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