Esenembe sugar cane farmer severely burned while protecting his truck from loadshedding protesters

An Esenembe sugarcane farmer put his life on the line while trying to protect his sugarcane truck from a mob of loadshedding protesters on Sunday night.

He was severely burned and injured by the crowd, who threw rocks at him and his driver while trying to set the truck alight.

Nick Lincoln (54) pleaded with protesters on the Glendale Road (P104) at Shayamoya for over an hour, but he was told that his truck was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The truck had been transporting sugarcane from Esenembe to the Gledhow Mill.

“I tried telling them that my truck had nothing to do with loadshedding and burning it would not help them, but they would not listen. They claimed to have originally been targeting the truck delivering fuel to the Avon Peaking Power Plant, but as they missed it, they would burn mine instead,” said Lincoln, who said the crowd was mostly made up of about 100 to 150 teenagers and women.

The protesters said loadshedding was not being implemented fairly and demanded that they be connected to the Avon Peaking Power Plant grid. Neighbouring township Nkobongo does not experience loadshedding for this reason.

Lincoln called the police, but they did not arrive in time to save his vehicle. He only heard from the police the next morning, asking him when he would remove the truck.

“I told the driver to get out of the truck and we hid at the back. When they made a fire using sugarcane debris I moved the burning debris out from under the truck. They started swearing at me, saying ‘Mlungu, we have no place for you in this society’.

The mob were successful on their third attempt, using a burning trye.

“I tried removing it but it was too hot. I got burnt on my hand and they hit me with stones,” he said.

The R3-million in damages he suffered mean that 150 workers, including the 15 who live in Shayamoya, will not have work this week while the truck is being replaced.

“This also means 2 000 tons of sugarcane will not be used, which is a loss of about R1.6-million. I am very disappointed about this,” said Lincoln, who previously had a truck torched four years ago in Etete.

The protest continued into the night on Monday, and failed attempts were made to set both another truck and Guzane Secondary School alight in Shayamoya. However, police and security officers were able to intervene.

Similarly, protests were held in Etete and Groutville, where residents blocked the R102 with burning tyres, debris and broken bottles.

The roads have since been cleared.

No arrests were made at any of the three protests.

Umhlali police spokesperson, captain Vinny Pillay, said police were investigating a case of malicious damage to property.

Ihawu Lethu Association chairperson, Craig Slevin, representing farms west of the R102, condemned the burning of the truck and blocking of the road. He said while they understood the frustration regarding power outages, blocking critical access routes required for transportation of sugarcane had a direct impact on the viability of ailing sugarcane farms.

“As a farming community, we have zero tolerance for business disruption and lawlessness and will defend our livelihoods and property when put under threat. We warn any criminal elements taking advantage of the situation for their own nefarious needs, that they will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” said Slevin.

KwaDukuza municipality spokesperson, Sipho Mkhize, said the load reduction strategy was outside of the municipality’s control.

Mayor Lindile Nhaca wrote to Eskom on March 1 reporting the allegations directed at the municipality over uneven distribution of rolling blackouts and made an appeal on behalf of the community for Eskom to consider exemptions of loadshedding in the interest of bringing stability to the local economy. This was to no avail.

“The municipality understands this is an emotive issue, but appeals to the community to exercise calm in raising their grievances,” said Mkhize.

Read more on Eskom’s response on page 11 of this week’s The North Coast Courier.

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