KwaZulu-Natal MEC for transport and human settlements, Siboniso Duma, has issued a stern warning to freight and logistics companies employing undocumented foreign drivers, vowing that their days of impunity are over.
Speaking after the province’s #NenzaniLaEzweni Operation netted more than 15 undocumented foreign nationals driving trucks and motorbikes at the Mkhondeni weighbridge on the N3 at the weekend, Duma said the next phase of the operation will focus on company owners.
“We are now gunning for the owners of these companies in the freight and logistics sector. I have mandated RTI [the road traffic inspectorate] to arrest them for employing undocumented drivers who are turning our road networks into killing fields,” Duma said.
He said the province is tightening enforcement to root out the “deep rot” in the freight sector, a system he described as enabling illicit trade, human trafficking, and fatal crashes caused by unqualified drivers.
According to Duma, the operation — led by the road traffic inspectorate in partnership with the home affairs department, the police, the employment and labour department, and local traffic authorities — continues to yield significant results.
This weekend, RTI teams:
- Arrested three undocumented nationals from Malawi;
- Exposed a racket involving foreign truck drivers from Eswatini using fraudulent licences;
- Suspended a truck operating without valid documentation;
- Arrested a Mozambican taxi driver without a route permit transporting passengers from Ermelo to Durban; and
- Executed eight warrants of arrest.
Duma said the department’s approach has shifted from “reactive enforcement” to strategic intelligence-driven operations designed to dismantle criminal networks within the logistics chain.
“We are combating the movement of undeclared and illicit goods from our road networks,” he said. “Importantly, we are targeting and impounding trucks without permits and arresting the [owners of the] companies behind them.”
Following recent seizures of millions of rand’s worth of undeclared goods, the MEC said the department will intensify efforts to restore order and accountability across the province’s major transport routes.
“This is a war against those who disrespect our laws and gamble with people’s lives,” Duma said. “We will have no mercy.”
Sowetan
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