Ministers, road freight industry draw up plan to curb N3 protests
An inter-ministerial committee and the road freight industry have agreed on a set of eleven interventions which it believes will end the truck drivers’ protests on national routes.
The committee, which was set up to investigate the protests in the trucking industry, has released eleven interventions to stop any further blockades by drivers along the country’s national roads.
The committee, which comprises Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi, Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula, Police Minister Bheki Cele and Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi, briefed the media in Pretoria on Monday.
The briefing followed a meeting with the trucking industry on Sunday.
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Protesting truck drivers shut down the N3 between Johannesburg and Durban on two separate occasions last week, blaming government inaction on the hiring of foreign nationals in the sector for the protests.
Nxesi said the eleven interventions include the appointment of the task team, enforcement of visa requirements and the review of the cross-border road transport legislation.
Local truck drivers have been complaining over the hiring of foreign nationals for the past five years, claiming that their foreign counterparts are prioritised for jobs in the industry, in part due to their willingness to accept lower wages.
The protests are believed to have cost the country's economy millions of rands.
