The secretary of All Truck Drivers Forum and Allied SA – Sifiso Nyathi – told OFM News that this will not bring a resolution to protests.

Nyathi says foreign nationals should only be hired for scarce skills in the country, especially with the unemployment rate increasing and the economy deteriorating. He says they will prevent foreign nationals from driving South African trucks.

“Before this, they asked us what direction to take to solve this problem - we submitted our document and presented our document on how to solve the problem in the trucking industry. We said trucks in South Africa, with its registration in South Africa, need to be driven by South Africans.  They mustn’t allow foreign nationals, regardless of their legal documentation or trucking permits. The ones who got documents, [in accordance] with the traffic register, were granted those documents to work in occupations that require a skillset that is not available or that is scarce in South Africa. For example, doctors, engineers and the likes. This is because of the corruption between traffic officials or whomever. Foreign nationals are not even supposed to be accommodated within the traffic industry as this skill is not a scarcity. All foreign nationals who are working here lied about the documentation they said they have; there is no document. The only papers they have are passports.”

This follows a briefing by the IMC on Monday, after 213 foreign nationals were arrested. The briefing was to introduce the 11-point plan to accommodate foreign nationals with valid documents.  

ALSO READ: #TruckDrivers demand attention of Transport Minister

Previously, OFM News reported that truck drivers vow to protest until the national Minister of Transport, Fikile Mbalula, addresses their demands.

OFM News/Mpho Mohapi and Bambatha Giko