Home

Outcry from truck drivers about increase in crime and kidnapping at Lebombo Border Post

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Another truck driver has been kidnapped at the Lebombo Border Post. This follows a similar incident two weeks ago. It is reported that one of the truck drivers was kidnapped by unknown people on Thursday, making him the second truck driver to be kidnapped at the border post in a space of two weeks.

Some of the concerned drivers claim that they are not only robbed of their belongings but also raped.

“Since I arrived here in the morning the queue is not moving, then when it gets dark there are criminals that attack us,” laments one truck driver who regularly passes through the border post.

Another long distance driver explains that, “There is a driver that was taken – they say- before yesterday or yesterday. As drivers we are trying to do something a like contribution to the family, because when they take your relative and demand R50 000 not every family could afford that,”

“There are gangsters that are coming to kidnap and then rape us, demand money and also take our belongings from the truck,” another truck driver informs.

Last week truck drivers blocked the roads around the border post in protest against the criminal attacks against them.

Video: Truck, taxi drivers block N4 toll road between Komatipoort and Lebombo Border Gate 

Community Safety, Security and Liaison Spokesperson, Moeti Mmusi says they are aware of the concerns raised by the truck drivers and they are being attended to.

“Some of these incidents have been reported to the police – the issues of kidnappings, robberies and others. We are working around the clock to ensure that culprits are brought to book. But we are appealing to the drivers themselves to be vigilant when driving towards the border,” comments Mmusi.

Truck drivers spend more than three days waiting to be cleared at the Lebombo Border Post between South Africa and Mozambique which has been operating for 24 hours since April.

However, traffic congestion remains a major problem faced by travellers at this port of entry. The border post, like other big ports of entries in the country, has started experiencing traffic congestion with an approximately 20 kilometer long queue of trucks on the N4 road towards the Lebombo Border Post.

Some of the truck drivers say they spend days before they can cross the border into Mozambique.

Lebombo Border Post Port Manager, Obed Maditsi says congestion is also caused by the delays taking place on the Mozambican side due to the country still applying covid-19 regulations travellers.

“You need to have the vaccine certificate before you can cross into Mozambique, but in South Africa we no longer have that. So based on that, we expect that people will have appetite to travel, and then we will have traffic. The traffic that you see is a bottleneck in Mozambique because of the conditions that I am explaining in terms of covid-19 regulations,” Maditsi explains.

He adds that they will soon implement a temporary one-stop border to reduce congestion and time spent by travelers at this port of entry.

 

Author

MOST READ