Freight companies counting the cost of Mooi River protests

Protesters torched 23 trucks near the Mooi River Toll Plaza on Sunday- apparently because companies are employing foreign nationals as truck drivers instead of locals.

Over the Easter period, a group of protesters at Mooi River also targeted a number of trucks and looted their contents before setting some of the vehicles on fire.

The association's Gavin Kelly says they've been left shocked and horrified by these incidents. 

"That first toll plaza only 4 trucks were involved. Now we are looking at 23 or 24 trucks so there is a fear that it is going to get bigger and it is going to spread across the country. A lot of transporters are now worried that their assets and drivers are not safe." 

Kelly has dismissed the claims that truck companies are giving the driving jobs to foreign nationals.

"The operators that have been targeted, and some of them are our members, don't employ foreigners. They employ South Africans." 

Kelly estimates the cost of the damage at around R200 million. 

"Let's say 30 trucks at R7 million a shot. That's R210 million that's just been lost in terms of the goods and the vehicles. And then there is the knock-on effect in terms of salaries, in terms of medical costs, in terms of impact further down the line such as business confidence." 

Meanwhile, the KZN premier Willies Mchunu has called a meeting on Thursday with truck company owners to find a solution to the problem.

Mchunu says he's concerned about the impact such protests will have on the economy and future investment prospects.