Truck drivers forum denies direct involvement in arson, but court documents link it to the violence

While All Truck Drivers Forum Allied SA (ATDF ASA) denies direct involvement in a string of arson attacks on trucks, it has been linked to the violence, court documents show.

Mabaso & Associates submitted a letter in the Ermelo Magistrate’s Court stating they had been instructed by ATDF ASA to represent the group of men accused of orchestrating the attacks.

Nelson Khulekani Shongwe, 29, Sibusiso Emmanuel Mthethwa, 38, Fundile Albeta Mpondo, 41, Mafika William Sibande, 61, and Nkosingiphile Nkosikhona Gumede, 27, face charges of attempted murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, malicious damage to property, conspiracy to commit a crime of malicious property damage, and possessing a firearm.

ATDF ASA secretary Sifiso Nyathi told News24 they had been unable to verify if the accused were members, but if they were, they would support them until the court found them guilty.

“If it is our members, we will take it from there. We condemn the crime. We will never send people to commit crimes.”

The State alleged “during July 2023 near Kinross, in the district of Govan Mbeki, the accused unlawfully and intentionally conspired with fellow members of the forum to aid or procure the commission of or to commit an offence, to wit to unlawfully and intentionally damage trucks transporting goods on the N2 national road”.

The five men were also accused of attempting to kill truck driver Bhongolwethu Bhongo Dayimani when they threw petrol bombs at the truck he was driving near Sheepmoor on 12 July.

Nyathi insisted the forum condemned the crime but laid some blame for the long-standing tension in the freight and cargo transport sector at the door of employers and the government.

“Although we condemn the crime, let’s look at what drives those people to do those things.

“[A]t the end of the day, people are hungry.

“Who charges government? Who charges employers?” he asked.

The ATDF ASA previously complained the inter-ministerial task team – comprising the ministers of employment and labour, police, transport, and home affairs – had been ineffective in resolving issues in the country’s freight and cargo transport sector.

The task team was set up in 2019.

Allegations relating to the employment of undocumented foreign nationals and ensuring the safety of trucks on the roads were among the key issues on its agenda.

Nyathi said truck company owners should be questioned as to why they employed foreign drivers.

He added:

Find out why they employ foreigners. First of all, they call themselves investors, [but] they invest in who? What wrong have we done to them as South African people? Because we are poor people, it is easy to enforce a law if we do wrong things, but what if the other people do wrong things, they [the government] end up not charging them? It is unfair.

Meanwhile, deputy national police commissioner Lieutenant-General Shadrack Sibiya told News24 evidence suggested a WhatsApp group had been used to coordinate the attacks on at least 21 trucks over just four days last week.

He said some of members in the WhatsApp group resided outside KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga where most of the attacks occurred.

Sibiya added the police had identified 20 persons of interest, saying more arrests were expected soon, News24 reported previously.

Without divulging details, he said Crime Intelligence thwarted further arson attacks and restored law and order on the country’s roads.

However, Truckers Association of South Africa spokesperson Mary Phadi told News24 law enforcement agencies and Crime Intelligence failed the road freight industry by not preventing the attacks from happening.

READ | More than 20 torched trucks later, police say they have ‘the situation under control’

“If you lose a vehicle, it takes time to recover on operations because you must claim from the insurance; and the insurance will not refund the value of that vehicle. 

“Due to these incidents, many companies will reduce the transportation of goods at night, which will lead to food security issues,” she said.

Phadi also cautioned the economic climate was dire.

“It is tough. The economy is not growing. Most companies are struggling to recover from the [Covid-19] pandemic. Fuel increases are just too high,” she said.

– Additional reporting by Nkosikhona Duma