Hauliers warn against restrictions on foreign drivers

Allegations of “job theft” by foreign drivers have raised a complex set of issues, a task team established to address the often violent highway protests has revealed.  This after Minister of Transport, Blade Nzimande, recently warned operators to “desist” from employing foreign nationals as truck drivers. The statement followed a meeting with the task team and several affected parties – including Satawu, the National Bargaining Council, the All Truck Drivers Foundation and the National Truck Drivers Foundation – in Durban recently. The task team believes the employment of foreign drivers is at the root of the nationwide protests – in which several people have lost their lives

and close to 1 000 trucks have been damaged – and that there is no need to employ foreigners as driving is not a scarce skill necessitating sourcing drivers across the borders. Transport operators however paint a more complex picture. “There are many companies with offices in South Africa, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for example, and naturally some of the drivers crossing the borders would be foreigners who have the right to traverse the country’s highways and regional roads,” said one operator. He added that South Africa was pushing for increased trade with its neighbours and that this was the result. “If you start placing restrictions on drivers, you could cause trade barriers.” Another agreed,

highlighting that often locals didn’t understand the language, culture or even the border procedures which could result in costly delays in cross-border trade. The best way to train local drivers around this – a method most operators use – is to have a co-driver travel on the long haul trips and learn the ropes. “But that adds to operational costs,” he added. Furthermore, most trucks are equipped for a driver to sleep in but there is no space for a second passenger. “That adds some logistics complexity and could incur additional accommodation costs.” And then there’s the issue of foreigners living in South Africa and in possession of valid work permits. “How do we deal with this?” an operator queried. All operators spoke to FTW on condition of anonymity for

fear of retaliation. Requests for comment from the Department of Labour and the National Bargaining Council were not answered at the time of going to press but a spokesperson in the Ministry of Transport reiterated an earlier

statement that government departments would conduct law enforcement operations, including unannounced visits and inspections, at the premises of operators and logistics companies to ensure compliance with the country’s labour laws.