Cops under fire for truck attacks

FREIGHT BODY: SAPS ‘BLIND OUT THERE WITH NO INTELLIGENCE’ Cele promises army’s help if needed as first culprits are arrested for torchings.

The Road Freight Association (RFA) is asking tough questions of both the Presidency and the South African police Service (Saps) about the wave of truck attacks and whether the police have sufficient crime prevention intelligence capabilities.

The RDA’s chief executive, Gavin Kelly, said they knew beforehand the att acks would take place between Monday and Wednesday – and the violence indeed flared up.

“We have been saying to the president, if this is really what’s going on, how come the Saps are not acting?” said Kelly.

“We saw it on social media – one can assume the Saps has real intelligence about what is going to happen before it happens. If the police does not have access to such intelligence, that is cause for concern – because they are then out there blind and just reacting.”

Yesterday, Police Minister Bheki Cele said 25 suspects have been taken into custody following the petrol-bombing and burning of at least 25 trucks in the past few days.

They were arrested in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.

He said if needed, the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) could be deployed to assist the police with tackling the burning of trucks.

He said Cele’s spokesperson, Lirandzu Themba, said Saps national commissioner Lieutenant-Khehla Sitole would have to communicate with the head of the SANDF and if a need was established for the army to be deployed, it would be done.

“In the past 24 hours we’ve managed to bring stability on the roads due to increased police presence but if the situation escalates, we will have to consider bringing in some reinforcements.”

President Cyril Ramaphosa condemned the wave of attacks on trucks that resulted in scores of vehicles set alight and truck divers injured and killed.

Kelly said the group behind the attacks was made up primarily of a number of unemployed South African truck drivers.

“We know they are doing it, they have said they are doing it. They have even appeared on TV saying: it’s not us but we support all of this,” he said.

While truck attacks have been an intermittent issue since 2018, Kelly was concerned it had moved from being about labour issues to dissatisfaction about foreigners.

“If you don’t put an end to this, it’s going to grow into xenophobic violence and the police are not proactive – there is no pre-emptive action on their side,” said Kelly.