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LISWATI TRUCK DRIVER SHOT AMID SA XENOPHOBIC UNREST

24/11/2020 00:45:00 BY SIBUSISO ZWANE

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MANZINI – A liSwati truck driver has been shot in South Africa.

The incident took place in Johannesburg at around 1am yesterday.

This has happened at a time when South African truck drivers, employed and unemployed, have launched a three-day national protest to remove foreign truck drivers from the industry.

The protest action, which is dubbed ‘National shutdown for all South Africa’s truck drivers, employed and unemployed’ started yesterday and is expected to end tomorrow.

Three

According to a source close to the matter, the truck driver, who is employed by one of the trucking companies in the the kingdom, was shot at three times, but he was hit by one bullet. He said two of the bullets were fired through the driver’s door, while the other one went through the window.

“The bullet hit him in his right thigh and he is currently admitted to one of the hospitals in South Africa,” the source said.

It was gathered that the truck left the Kingdom of Eswatini for South Africa through the Ngwenya Border Gate last Sunday because the driver wanted to evade the protest action against foreign drivers in the neighbouring country.

The source said after being shot, the driver managed to continue driving until he reached a filling station, where he parked the truck and sought assistance to call the police.

However, the source said it was not clear if the truck was attacked by people who were connected to the ongoing protest action against foreign truck drivers or by robbers.

Meanwhile, the management of the affected company asked not to comment on the matter.

On the other hand, Sikhumbuzo Mkhulisi, the President of the Eswatini Drivers Association, said they had been informed about the truck that was attacked in Johannesburg, South Africa in the early hours of yesterday morning.

Again, Mkhulisi said they were aware of the three-day national shutdown for all South African drivers, employed and unemployed. He said they got the memorandum about the protest action last weekend.

He said they were aware that the protest action started yesterday and it affected a number of areas in the neighbouring country, including Golela Border Gate, which was next to Lavumisa Border Gate.

Cautious

In that regard, Mkhululi urged emaSwati, especially truck drivers who would be driving in South Africa to be cautious and constantly communicate among themselves using the various communication channels during the course of the day so that they could know the whereabouts and safety of each other.“If they happen to come across any danger, they should not hesitate to call the police,” Mkhulisi said.

He added that they could also communicate with members of the association as they would try to keep their communication lines open all the time.

The tension within the trucking industry in South Africa has flared up and according to some of emaSwati who are working in the trucking industry in South Africa, hundreds of South Africans who claimed to be truck drivers embarked on a protest action at Bayhead in Durban. They said during the protest action, the protestors burned tyres on the road and disturbed the free flow of traffic.

They added that the protestors were also planning to protest in the central business district (CBD) of Durban within the three days and chuck out foreign nationals.

According to a memorandum which was circulated among the South Africans by the organisers as the mobilised for the protest action, the protest was meant to fight for what was rightfully theirs.

They called upon all South African truck drivers to join the protest. They said driving a truck in South Africa was for South Africans only.

“Join us in clearing our industry between November 23 and 25, 2020,” reads part of the memorandum.

Again, the organisers said as South Africans, they needed to be united and stop the killing of innocent citizens by illegal immigrants (foreigners), who were allegedly driving on the country’s national roads using fake driver’s licences.

“The South African government seems to not care and employers of the foreigners also do not, until a truck goes missing and cannot trace the foreign drivers because they are illegal immigrants,” they said in the memorandum. They said as South Africans, their lives were at risk every day as they had to avoid accidents as some of the foreign truck drivers were allegedly driving without valid driver’s licences. Their argument was that they had more than enough South African truck drivers who were well qualified, but they were not given a chance because foreigners were regarded as cheap labour.

Foreigners

In that regard, they said they had to remove all foreigners who were driving South African trucks and order them to go and drive in their countries. They warned the foreign truck drivers that their time was up.

According to Times Live, hundreds of truck drivers – claiming to be from the All Truck Drivers Foundation (ATDF), embarked on a protest action in Durban. Metro police spokesperson Superintendent Parboo Sewpersad said about 300 protestors gathered on Langeberg Road in Bayhead, Durban, burnt tyres and blocked part of the road. The publication also reported, according to the Road Freight Association (RFA), that at least 30 truck drivers were attacked across SA last week alone.

It is also worth noting that last year, the Sunday Times reported how the onslaught against companies employing foreign truck drivers had left dozens of people dead or injured and caused E1.2 billion in damages to trucks and cargo.