The Road Freight Association’s Gavin Kelly said that attacks on trucks and their drivers remained a huge concern.
CAPE TOWN – The Road Freight Association has shone the spotlight on countrywide attacks on trucks and in some cases, their drivers.
Last week, at least three trucks were looted during protests in the De Doorns area and there have been several attacks and petrol bombings involving trucks on Western Cape roads this year.
In September, some foreign truck drivers came under attack in various parts of the country amid a dispute related to the employment of foreigners in the sector.
The Road Freight Association’s Gavin Kelly said that attacks on trucks and their drivers remained a huge concern.
He said that trucks seemed to be an easy target for criminals as they were large and travelled fairly slowly.
Kelly said that the association provided truck drivers with tools and training on how to respond to attacks, driving the message home that no cargo or vehicle was more important than a human life.
“You can always replace the contents – there’s insurance for that; it’s not a nice way to go – but you cannot replace a driver. You cannot fully heal a driver who has psychological damage when you have a crowd of people coming at you, screaming and shouting and threatening to burn… one can only imagine what kind of psychological trauma torment that driver must go through.”
Kelly said insurance premiums had already started increasing due to the attacks, resulting in a negative impact on the economy.
Recent Comments