Dancing with death
Dancing with death
Let’s face it: truck drivers in South Africa often get a raw deal. They’re the backbone of our transport and logistics industries, responsible for moving goods across the country. Yet time and time again, their health, safety, and basic dignity are thrown under the bus – or in this case, under the truck.
According to research by the Department of Transport (DoT), truck drivers in South Africa face numerous challenges, from excessive hours to life-threatening working conditions. And the most dangerous challenge of all is one we don’t highlight nearly often enough: unsafe trucks.
How many times have South African truck drivers been forced to turn a blind eye to the glaring reality that the vehicle they’re driving is a rolling death trap? I’m talking about tyres with barely any tread left, brakes that could fail at any moment, loads so poorly secured they might as well be a ticking time bomb. Worse still, these drivers have been on the road for far too long – their bodies and minds exhausted, their reflexes dulled. But they keep driving. Why? Because in a country with an unemployment rate officially hovering around 33% (in reality, many people believe that it’s much higher), truck drivers who have jobs don’t want to lose them. It’s that simple… and that tragic.
Now imagine the horror: you’re driving a truck with a GVM of 56 tonnes at 80km/h on a national highway, knowing full well that the vehicle could fail at any moment. It’s a recipe for disaster and it happens far more often than we think.
Yes, there are some incredibly reputable companies in our country that prioritise safety and don’t break the rules. I salute them! However, there are others that expect their drivers to shut up and keep driving, even when the situation is downright dangerous. If they refuse, they risk losing their livelihoods.This is a country where the desperate choices of truck drivers jeopardise not just their lives, but the lives of everyone on the road. Would you refuse to transport a load if you knew your job was on the line? Many drivers can’t afford to.
Contrast this with a recent case in the US. A truck driver in Maryland was fired after refusing to transport an unsafe oversized load without the necessary escort vehicle. What happened? The Department of Labor ordered the company to reinstate the driver and pay nearly R517,000 in back wages and damages. That’s right – the driver was compensated for standing up for his own safety and the safety of others. In South Africa, such a scenario feels like a distant fantasy. Under the same circumstances, would a South African driver even refuse the load in the first place? Honestly, I have my doubts.
The reality is that our drivers are not protected in the same way. Alas, some trucking companies – driven by profits and deadlines – turn a blind eye to safety concerns. And when drivers try to speak up, they’re silenced, ignored, or fired.
It’s outrageous that truck drivers in this country are sometimes forced into making life-threatening decisions. These are men and women with families, dreams, and the right to a safe working environment, yet they are left to navigate a system that values cargo over their lives.
The consequences of this situation are all too real. South Africa has a shocking record when it comes to road safety, and accidents are increasing. We’ve all heard about and seen devastating pileups on our roads, where heavy trucks careen out of control, destroying everything in their path. We mourn the lives lost, but do we stop to think about the root cause? Unsafe trucks; exhausted drivers; a system that prioritises speed and profit over human life.
To reiterate, in a country like South Africa, where inequality and poverty are so entrenched, truck drivers are often left with no choice: they do what they have to, just to survive, but at what cost to their health, their lives, and the lives of others on the road?
The truth is, until we start holding companies accountable for the safety of their trucks and the treatment of their drivers, nothing will change. We need to demand better protection for truck drivers, stronger regulations, and a system where workers can refuse dangerous loads without the fear of losing their jobs.
Truck drivers are not disposable; they are essential. They deserve to work in conditions that don’t put their lives – and ours – at risk. South Africa needs to wake up to the reality that we are playing a dangerous game, and the stakes are far too high to ignore any longer.
It’s time to stop turning a blind eye to this dance with death.
Published by
focusmagsa
