Two more trucks were set alight in Kempton Park in the ongoing truck driver strike, bringing the total to five.
The two latest incidents took place on Tuesday afternoon and early on Wednesday morning.
A burning eight-ton truck caused peak hour chaos at the intersection of André Greyvensteyn and Pretoria roads in Isando on Tuesday afternoon at around 4pm.
This incident caused truck drivers on the R24, which runs parallel to André Greyvensteyn, to make U-turns on the highway, travelling in the yellow lane against oncoming traffic.
“About 11 trucks either stopped next to the road or made U-turns and travelled against oncoming traffic to avoid contact with strikers. We escorted the trucks safely to their destinations,” Insp Kobeli Mokheseng, metro police spokesman, said.
“No strikers were arrested on the scene but the police are investigating the incident with the help of CCTV cameras in the area,” Mokheseng said.
Mr Kobus du Toit, a Van Riebeeck Park resident, witnessed about 15 strikers stoning a truck at the bridge on the P91 near Pretoria Road on Wednesday morning at 7.15am.
They then poured petrol onto it and set it alight. He said the strikers ran away immediately afterwards.
According to Mokheseng the truck was deserted when the metro police arrived. Both the driver and the strikers were gone.
The road remained closed until about 9am.
In the meantime, Mpact Recycling, formerly Mondi Recycling, said, as a result of a number of violent incidents and intimidation involving trucks in and around Johannesburg, a disruption in its paper collection may occur.
“While thankfully no one has been injured, the safety of our drivers is of paramount importance. As a result we are treating the current areas identified, which include the industrial areas of Boksburg, Kempton Park and Jet Park, with caution,” a spokesman said.
“We intend to continue with paper collections in all residential areas but efforts may be somewhat disrupted due to on-going violence.”
A burning eight-ton truck caused peak hour chaos at the intersection of André Greyvensteyn and Pretoria roads in Isando on Tuesday afternoon at around 4pm.
This incident caused truck drivers on the R24, which runs parallel to André Greyvensteyn, to make U-turns on the highway, travelling in the yellow lane against oncoming traffic.
“About 11 trucks either stopped next to the road or made U-turns and travelled against oncoming traffic to avoid contact with strikers. We escorted the trucks safely to their destinations,” Insp Kobeli Mokheseng, metro police spokesman, said.
“No strikers were arrested on the scene but the police are investigating the incident with the help of CCTV cameras in the area,” Mokheseng said.
Mr Kobus du Toit, a Van Riebeeck Park resident, witnessed about 15 strikers stoning a truck at the bridge on the P91 near Pretoria Road on Wednesday morning at 7.15am.
They then poured petrol onto it and set it alight. He said the strikers ran away immediately afterwards.
According to Mokheseng the truck was deserted when the metro police arrived. Both the driver and the strikers were gone.
The road remained closed until about 9am.
In the meantime, Mpact Recycling, formerly Mondi Recycling, said, as a result of a number of violent incidents and intimidation involving trucks in and around Johannesburg, a disruption in its paper collection may occur.
“While thankfully no one has been injured, the safety of our drivers is of paramount importance. As a result we are treating the current areas identified, which include the industrial areas of Boksburg, Kempton Park and Jet Park, with caution,” a spokesman said.
“We intend to continue with paper collections in all residential areas but efforts may be somewhat disrupted due to on-going violence.” – looklocal Kempton Park
