The N3 is our Suez Canal and blocking it is more than just a provincial inconvenience.
Saying, as transport minister Fikile “Mr Fixit” Mbalula did last week, that the blockade of trucks on the N3 highway could “potentially damage the economy” is like saying there is potentially a little bit of a war in Ukraine.
If you stand atop Van Reenen’s Pass at night, you might see the admittedly impressive sight of trucks grinding slowly uphill in a solid river of light reaching from the Tugela toll plaza to the top of the pass. The N3 is SA’s Suez Canal, its Transcontinental Railroad, its Silk Road, and all it takes is the piece of errant cholesterol from one burning blockaded truck to give the country a heart attack.
There may be a speck of truth there. A local truck owner, whose most profitable route was delivering earthmoving equipment to the Democratic Republic of the Congo , once told me he preferred using Zimbabwean drivers — one of them determinedly undocumented — on these epics because the rest were no match for the DRC’s hardened scammers. It is only a speck, though.
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