Trucks were torched on the N2, N3 and N4 highways last week.
Five suspects allegedly linked to the torching of trucks on freeways in Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo have accused the police of beating them during their arrest last week.
The suspects, who appeared briefly in the Ermelo magistrate’s court on Monday, shuffled into the dock wearing hoodies, which they pulled over their faces to hide from the television cameras.
National police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe initially said the five suspects, who were arrested in Mpumalanga, were facing charges of malicious damage to property in connection with the torching of 21 trucks on the N2, N3 and N4 freeways.
But Monica Nyuswa, spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority, said Nelson Shongwe, Sibusiso Mthethwa Fundile Mpondo, Mafika Sibande and Nkosikhona Gumede are facing charges of conspiracy to commit malicious damage to property, malicious damage to property, robbery with aggravated circumstances and attempted murder.
The suspects’ defence attorney Siyabonga Jiyane conferred with his clients and told the court that the men alleged that “during their arrest they were assaulted by the police officials and they request that they be taken to see health practitioners in relation to their health issues”.
He added that one of the suspects had visible injuries to his hands. “They want medical attention,” he told the court.
Magistrate Luzile Msimango said the court had noted their request and a message would be sent to the police instructing that they be sent for medical treatment. The matter was postponed to 27 July for a bail application.
Nyuswa said the state would oppose bail.
Meanwhile, the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Friday called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to ramp up the charges against the five suspects to more serious crimes than malicious damage to property, given the harm to the economy.
The chamber condemned the truck torchings, saying the economy was reliant on the N3 corridor because it serves as a critical trade route, connecting the ports of Durban and Richards Bay to neighbouring countries within the Southern African Development Community.
“These actions are sabotaging the economy — the entire value chain from trucking companies to the receiving businesses. Continuous congestion, road closures and concerns about safety along the N3 are factors that create uncertainty and delays in freight turnaround times and thus creating additional costs for businesses,” the chamber said.
It is estimated that when the logistics sector is not fully operational, when key corridors such as N3, N2 and M7 are closed, it loses R800 million in gross value added a month (or R13.7 million a day), according to the eThekwini metro’s economic development research unit, Durban EDGE.
“Following the Covid-19 pandemic, the July unrest and April 2022 floods we cannot afford losses such as this; we need to promote an attitude of rebuilding and reconciling. The frequency with which trucks are being torched is a cause for concern and calls for urgent intervention by government and law enforcement agencies to condemn this lawless behaviour and criminals need to feel the might of the law,” it said.
The chamber added that a number of truck owners were considering stopping the transporting of goods during the night “as this poses a huge risk and threat to their businesses and their drivers’ lives are put in danger”.
“If we see an increase in truck movement during the day, this poses a huge threat and impact on the supply-chain process. An influx of more trucks during the day poses a threat to the whole system which, in turn, will affect the supply-demand process,” it said.
The chamber called for police visibility on the freeways and more intelligence-led policing.
“If this, combined with other realities relating to the torching of trucks, continues and becomes our reality, we as a country are headed for a catastrophic collapse of the economy, resulting in job losses and increased crime statistics, leading to an ungovernable country that is doomed to fail,” it warned.