Trucking industry on edge, attackers unknown

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JEREMY MAGGS: KwaZulu-Natal police confirming that a group of armed men stopped six trucks near Van Reenen’s Pass at the weekend and set them alight. Overnight, in what’s been described as a coordinated attack on the road freight sector, another five trucks have been torched under similar circumstances. This time in the province of Mpumalanga. We’re going to delve a little deeper into this issue, but first, this is what President Cyril Ramaphosa has had to say on the issue.

CYRIL RAMAPHOSA: I am concerned about these activities that take place that have a negative impact on our economy. It’s almost like economic sabotage because burning six trucks on the main artery of our country in terms of the economy is concerning. Intelligence agencies are going to be giving me a report on that. So we will be getting that shortly, and, of course, the police themselves will be taking steps to make sure that we forestall whatever follow-up activity that those who are behind this may well be planning.

Read: Attackers torch trucks on another key SA trade route

But we are going to ensure that we go after those people who torched those trucks because it’s not acceptable that trucks and facilities that are enhancing our economy are attacked willy-nilly just like that, and they should never actually even be attacked.

JEREMY MAGGS: We’ve got two guests on this issue now. Let’s start with Mary Phadi from the Truckers Association of South Africa [TASA], a very warm welcome to you. As far as you can see, then, what do you think is behind this latest attack?

MARY PHADI: Look, Jeremy, we all don’t know. Good afternoon to you. We are scared because it is a situation that is not controllable. If it happened yesterday in KwaZulu-Natal, and at around one o’clock this morning, it happened in Mpumalanga, it’s a clear sign that it’s something that is going to continue. We are not quite sure as to what is the cause of the situation right now.

JEREMY MAGGS: There are reports that suggest it’s a well-planned and coordinated campaign. Would you agree with that?

MARY PHADI:  Yes, because as operators, when we look back five years ago, this is a similar incident, where trucks would be torched in the evening, and when we wake up in the morning, there’s chaos. Until we then find truck drivers coming up to say, ‘we are concerned about the employment of the foreign truck drivers’. That happened five years ago, and it started like this. So we are just suspecting that it could be one of those things that is starting again.

JEREMY MAGGS: Mary, after the attacks in Van Reenen’s and also in Mpumalanga, what are your members telling you? What are the drivers saying today?

MARY PHADI: Our members are raising concerns that it’s becoming harder and harder in the industry.

Moreover, truck drivers are scared because they’re threatened with firearms, and people are shooting.

So they cannot do but to try and find safety for their fellow truck drivers [sic]. So it’s quite difficult because it’s going to make the situation tighter, especially driving at night.

JEREMY MAGGS: Are we reaching the point, or could we reach the point where drivers, because they’re so concerned for their safety, will simply refuse to get into the cab?

MARY PHADI: Look, at the moment, it’s not like that. If you look at the current situation and the economy that is not going well, at least we still have drivers who are willing to assist our consumers and make sure that they deliver those goods to their respective warehouses or mines.

But we still have an opportunity to engage with them, and they’re still saying that they want to push as much as possible. Jeremy, it’s very hard in South Africa, things are not really going well, and if drivers can say tomorrow that they’re abandoning the trucks, things are going to just get worse because people will not have food to eat.

JEREMY MAGGS: What type of short-term security measures could be implemented?

MARY PHADI: Currently, since the past two years, a lot of operators have appointed private security companies that are monitoring the trucks. These are the people who update us every time when there’s an incident; within five minutes, we’re aware that there’s an incident somewhere. So they’re doing their best to make sure that everything is [safe].

Police, on the other hand, they rely on the information that is already being circulated in the country. So I’m not quite sure where they are placed as police and how far they can assist.

But for now, I can assure you that the people who are helping us are private security companies that are appointed. That is also bringing more strain into the companies that are bleeding already in terms of the situation that we have in South Africa.

JEREMY MAGGS: Mary Phadi, thank you very much indeed, from the Truckers Association of South Africa. Now this Monday, the Road Freight Association is predictably calling for action to be taken against those responsible for the attacks on truck drivers in the country.

Problem, of course, as you heard from our previous guest, is we don’t really know who they are. In a statement, the organisation says while no one was injured, the attacks are putting the logistics sector at risk. Trucks carry around 80% of goods moved in and around South Africa.

Read: Impact of the attacks on trucks on Van Reenen’s Pass

I want to get a view on that now from Willem Els, who’s from the Institute for Security Studies [ISS]. Willem, a very warm welcome to you. The two incidents that we’ve seen, do you think that this is a failure of intelligence gathering?

WILLEM ELS: Good morning, Jeremy, of course, yes. The fact that we saw these well-coordinated, well-planned and well-executed attacks on these trucks indicates to us that this has been in the making for some time. It must have been organised because it was a group that worked together. There must have been some communications between them and the kingpins and so on, and that should have been picked up by our crime intelligence networks.

JEREMY MAGGS: The problem, of course, is we don’t know who was behind the attacks, unless you can throw some more light on it. I’ve just been speaking to a representative from the Truckers Association, saying at this point, they don’t have any idea.

WILLEM ELS: Ja, this is not something new. This is something that’s been coming along for some time. She [Mary] mentioned some five years ago, also, some two years ago, there were some serious incidents, and these incidents must have been investigated. You should have picked up some of the leads there.

With thorough investigation, you would’ve had an idea who these syndicates are that are working behind it and so on. But yet, we don’t see any notable arrests.

The arrests that we see even from two years ago are your foot soldiers. We don’t see the kingpins coming in, and that just gives us the assumption that there might be some higher role players that have compromised state actors and that they’re complicit in all of this. Otherwise, we would’ve seen some arrests and also had some more information about this.

JEREMY MAGGS: That’s concerning. When you say higher role players, who are you referring to?

WILLEM ELS: Well, if we look at an interview that was a week or two ago by Minister Pravin Gordhan on Eskom, he indicated that they know who the kingpins are within Eskom, syndicates who are working on that. When they asked him, why have they not been arrested, he could not answer.

The only deduction that we can make from that is that they must be politically connected. They must be protected by the political level, but also on the operational level by corrupt police officials.

JEREMY MAGGS: In the short term, do you think there are any measures that authorities can take just to try and calm the situation?

WILLEM ELS: Well, Jeremy, it starts with the political will; it starts from the top. Also, we see that the fish rots from the top. So there is where we have to start. We have to have some political leadership that will lead these people. We also need some leadership from our police management because, as we have noticed, our strategies, and our plans have not worked. It’s come to nothing, and we are failing in the fight against crime.

So we will have to revisit that as a matter of urgency. Also, if you have these management that are not competent in doing what they need to do, we see that there were a lot of appointments that we refer to as side entries of non-police officials that are in leadership positions in the police now. We have to guide and have to advise the police on how to curb these, they are not in a position to do what they need to do. We need to replace them with competent people who can lead and guide the police service in order to effectively combat and investigate these crimes.

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JEREMY MAGGS: As far as the current situation is concerned, are we reaching the point, do you think, where trucks might need to drive in protected armed convoys?

WILLEM ELS: We might reach it, we’re not there yet, but that might be the case. But we must also understand that private security also costs money. So that will add onto the cost of the transportation of the goods, and that will, at the end of the day, filter down to the consumers, who are you and me. So that is not the preferred option.

JEREMY MAGGS: But whichever way you look at it, after these two incidents, it is going to have an impact on the confidence of the supply chain.

WILLEM ELS: Of course, apart from everything else, they say that depending on the freight carried by the truck, for every truck that is being burnt, the immediate loss is about R10 million. Then you also have to look at the ripple effect of people who might lose their jobs, people who might have smaller businesses that might close down and so on. So it has got a ripple effect that will extend way beyond just the R10 million that we lose with every truck that’s been burnt.

JEREMY MAGGS: Willem Els, thank you very much.