DURBAN, 30 May 2018 (ANA) – Recovery and clean-up operations are underway Monday on the N3 stretch in the Mooi River area after 32 trucks were torched and others looted.
One truck was also torched along the R103, but has since been moved and traffic is being diverted along that road.
According to Zinhle Mngomezulu of the Road Traffic Inspectorate, clean-up operations were under way and all necessary services were on scene. “The road will still be closed for between four and five hours while this is continuing,” she said.
Mngomezulu said she believed arrests had been made, but she was unable to say how many.
Police on Monday morning said the area was now “calm” and they would be issuing a statement soon.
Arrive Alive South Africa released a statement on its website on Sunday evening cautioning road users travelling on the N3 “over the next few days” to avoid doing so at night.
The violence allegedly started on Sunday when foreign truck drivers were accused of taking jobs from locals.
Last month, hundreds of motorists were delayed over the Easter long weekend when looting took place along the same route.
The Mooi River N3 toll plaza is one of the busiest in the country, linking KwaZulu-Natal’s two major seaports with most of the hinterland such as the country’s economic hub of Gauteng and SADC countries.
- African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Moses Mudzwiti
