Komatipoorters claim freight trucks are causing chaos in town

The townspeople bemoaned the sheer volume of traffic and extreme delays caused by the snail’s pace of freight truck traffic towards the Lebombo border on November 12.

The Komatipoort turn-off from the N4 was blocked due to the chaotic traffic caused by the freight trucks.

The residents claimed they were unable to travel through the small town, and that they were against allowing trucks to travel through it. They alleged that the truck drivers make use of the Tenbosch Road to jump in and get a better position in the queue, while others use it as quicker accessway to the workshops and depots. The locals firmly believe that opening the border post for 24 hours a day would resolve the traffic issues effectively.

“The freight trucks cause suffering and disorder in the community every day, by being recklessly driven through town on our already-damaged roads and causing unnecessary traffic. The chances the truck drivers take are unsafe to the townspeople,” said Petro Kruger, a community member.

Dion Gregory, the operations supervisor for Unitrans Africa, stated that the main issue was the poor flow of traffic through the KM4 (a cargo terminal) facility due to the capacity and the mixing of slow-clearing and fast-clearing goods, which created congestion.

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“Another issue is the entry gate from South Africa into Mozambique. It is only wide enough to accommodate one truck in either direction. As general cargo takes longer to enter Mozambique through the gate, this also causes disruption to the flow,” he said.

Teachers and learners from Komatipoort Akademie were doubled down with stress as the learners arrive late for their end exams. “This traffic problem is seriously affecting our matriculates who are already stressing for their final exams. They are already made anxious by the power that kicks out during exam times. We hope something can be done about this freight truck mayhem,” said Hannetjie van Gass, the school secretary.

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