SILENCE BY AUTHORITIES OVER LOOMING REGIONAL STRIKE ANNOYS SADC TRUCK DRIVERS

One month after the SADC Truck Drivers’ Association announced a possible regional strike this month, relevant authorities have made no attempts to avert the scenario.

Following this silence from authorities, SADC Truck Drivers’ Association President Eugene Ndhlovu says the regional demonstration scheduled for August 15, 2023 against security concerns, border clearance issues and general processing in the Democratic Republic of Congo, is still on track.

Mr. Ndlovu has criticized the Zambian government and other countries in the region for ignoring the issues in the DRC and has expressed concern that the planned protest could paralyze major economic sectors such as mining, energy and agriculture, among others.

He cites the up to 15-day delay in processing papers, attacks that result in the loss of products, cargo, and property, and the newly introduced scanner at Mutaka area, where transporters have to wait up to a week to be cleared, as some of the challenges motivating the protest by suspending cargo transit inside the SADC region next week.

Efforts to get a comment from Commerce Minister Chipoka Mulenga proved futile by broadcast time as his mobile phone went unanswered.