Truckers out of work, ships idle in Cape Town

Hundreds of Western Cape hauliers are out of work as a result of the Transnet worker strike, a “total disaster” for the Mother City, says Cape Town Harbour Carriers Association chairman, John Berry. “The situation is frightening. Truckers are standing around not making any money, ships lie idle and the Cape Town container and combi-terminals remain closed, which renders it impossible for us to collect or deliver containers,” says Berry, who started life as a trucker in the 1970s. Harbour Carriers Association founder member, Peter Newton, was incensed at trying to exit the port through the Heerengracht gate at 5.40 a.m. on Thursday, to find it closed. He only learnt on returning to office that an NPA official had advised of the closure by e-mail after close of business the previous evening. Newton, in a letter of complaint to Barbara Hogan, minister of public enterprise; Jeremy Cronin, deputy minister of transport, and other senior officials, urged the gate be reopened without further delay, saying: “Such arbitrary, thoughtless, action is nothing short of plain, downright, stupid, not to mention dangerous.” Berry says NPA and TPT management tried their level best to assist truckers, regrettably without much luck.