SA VIOLENCE: NO TRUCKS ENTERING, EXITING AT BORDER POSTS

NGWENYA – The situation for local truck drivers is getting worse by the day. This is because the whole day yesterday, no trucks were reported to have entered through the borders and also none exited.

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The trucks, which were parked at Ngwenya Border Gate, had added in number as on Monday they were around 20 while yesterday they were double the number.

When asked why they were camping at the border, the drivers stated that it was because their bosses were sending them out yet they feared for their lives in the neighbouring country. South African truck drivers are currently staging a blockade in all ports of entry, in a move to force foreign truck drivers out of their country.

The local truck drivers said there was a colleague of theirs who departed to South Africa yesterday morning and was reportedly attacked around Caroline.
Michael Dlamini said they received the news in the morning, adding that they would not travel to that country, especially because no truck came through to the country the whole day yet they were monitoring the situation by the number of trucks entering the kingdom.

“As you see us here, our bosses said we must go and deliver the goods but we are scared, hence the reason we are parked here,” said one of the drivers.
They said they only drove to the border to show that they wanted to keep their jobs.

Moreover, the drivers said their biggest concern was that government did not seem to be doing anything about their well-being.
One of them alleged that while listening to the news in the morning, he overheard a minister saying his ministry would not dwell much on the drivers’ issues because they (drivers) were the ones who went to South Africa to find jobs.

He said this did not go down well with them because they were only trying to make a living other than sitting at home.

Updating

When asked how long they were intending to stay at the border, they said they were relying on their phones to communicate with their counterparts in South Africa, who were updating them about the situation. They added that they heard the strike would run until today, adding that they were hoping to see if there would be any change.

On the other hand, the Ministry of Labour and Social Security released a press statement which stated that they were firstly informed of the tension and violence on foreign national truck drivers in South Africa in early 2019 by a group of affected emaswati truck drivers.

The ministry said it was invited to a meeting of the concerned truck drivers in Manzini on the Saturday of 2019 Easter Holidays where the truck drivers informed them that South African workers were against foreign nationals, including emaSwati taking their jobs and that the perpetrators were resorting to violence and some lives had already been lost.

“Complicating the issue of non- South African drivers was that most did not have work permits and this exposed them to arrest in roadblocks and subsequently losing their jobs and social insurance contributions.

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