KwaZulu-Natal police arrested an All Truck Drivers Forum South Africa (ATDFSA) national office bearer for allegedly inciting violence and disrupting traffic on the N3 near Bergville in the early hours of Saturday.
ATDFSA called for a shutdown of national roads on Saturday as part of their campaign against undocumented workers in the transport sector.
Police spokesperson Col Robert Netshiunda said officers conducting patrols along the N3 southbound noticed traffic slowing down before eventually coming to a complete standstill.
They discovered a group of about 10 people allegedly stopping trucks on the highway.
The suspects fled into nearby bushes when they spotted the police, abandoning a white Isuzu bakkie with its doors left open.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the vehicle belonged to a prominent ATDFSA office bearer. Officers searched the bakkie and found an ATDFSA banner and several stones inside the vehicle.
Netshiunda said while police were processing the scene, a white Volkswagen Polo was spotted travelling on the N3 northbound. They followed the vehicle allegedly sent to collect the owner of the abandoned bakkie.
The Polo driver and a passenger, both identified as truck drivers, were arrested along with the owner of the bakkie.
Police further linked the bakkie owner to the stoning of a bus at the N3 Colenso interchange shortly before his arrest.
Additional charges could still be added as investigations continue.
The arrests come amid heightened tensions in the trucking sector and follow repeated warnings from police against unlawful protests, violence and disruptions on major transport routes.
Police have urged anyone with information related to criminal activities on the province’s roads to report it to the authorities.
TimesLIVE
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