A truck transporting cane was stoned and the driver assaulted on the Glendale Road near Shayamoya last night.

This was the second attack on cane trucks on that road in two weeks

The truck’s owner Jeremy Goble of Mvuma CC said a mob of people barricaded the road and surrounded the truck at about 1am.

“They smashed the driver’s side window, breaking the radio with the force of impact.

“This is the third time my driver has been attacked on that road.”

Goble said the first incident was on April 18.

He said the driver had managed to escape by driving over the barricade, but not before his attackers attempted to set the vehicle alight.

“They opened the diesel tank and dropped a burning piece of paper into it. Thankfully it did not ignite.”

Goble farms in the Upper Tongaat area and transports his own cane to the Glendale Mill.

Due to the instability along that road he has now been forced to use the toll road to reach the mill, and toll fees, extra fuel and wear and tear from the greater distance are impacting his business.

“The way these people are behaving is barbaric. The sugarcane farmers have nothing to do with the protest. In fact we are their main source of employment, so why do they target us? asked Goble.

On Friday, May 13, three cane trucks were set alight on the R102 outside KwaDukuza at Ntshaweni when an angry mob of children and young adults closed the road and surrounded the vehicles.

Truck owner and farmer Nick Lincoln said the economic ramifications have been severe.

“Our truck was only two years old and should have run for at least ten years. It was worth about R2,4 million, insurance will only cover about half of that,” said Lincoln.

On Lincoln’s farm alone 150 people were retrenched after the burning because with the truck out of action work came to a standstill.

Natalie Bergstrom, who’s family owned one of the three trucks, said the loss of the vehicle was a huge blow to their family.

“Now we have to hire a truck to transport all our cane and that from other farmer that we had committed to transport,” said Bergstrom.

The people were reportedly protesting over the lack of speed bumps after an accident on the road earlier that day.

Toyi-toyi’ng and barricarding of roads flared up in Shayamoya on Monday.

The people were up in arms over the lack of employment and attempted to set fire to the councillor, John Phahla’s home.

A crowd of people also stormed into the African National Congress offices in KwaDukuza on Monday demanding their complaints be heard.

The ANC have since criticised the police for the way they reportedly handled the illegal protests.

>>>Read: Truck owner, Peter Cunningham’s harrowing account of rescuing his driver from the mob here: “I drove the gauntlet to reach my driver.”

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