Caught in the eye of the storm

A security company boss in the middle of the taxi strike violence in Nelson Mandela Bay this week has highlighted the suffering of ordinary commuters, the heroism of individual truck drivers and the restraint of hard-pressed police teams.

Impact Loss Control owner Trevor Wilson, whose six-member team rides shotgun for 30 companies in Markman that do truck deliveries, described on Friday some of the thuggery that has ripped through the Bay since Tuesday, and how quickly it moved from calm to chaos.

“In one incident earlier in the week, just before the sun came up, my guys were standing down near the Caltex truck stop on the Addo road.

“Two taxis pulled up on either side of the N2 and rolled out tyres across the road, and in two minutes these were alight and a passing truck had been forced to stop.

“Three of the protesters tried to pull out the driver but he just hung onto that steering wheel like a limpet.

“I don’t think they wanted to burn it with him still in — so he saved that truck.

“They were satisfied because the truck was already jackknifed sideways and was blocking the highway.”

He said seizing the truck keys and sometimes the driveshaft was clearly the protesters’ established strategy if the vehicle could not be torched.

He said motorists who had to traverse the affected roads were understandably fearful of being stopped or stoned, but made things worse by driving at high speed.

“At night the stranded trucks are often invisible and if it carries on like this there is going to be a bad accident.”

Between the periods of mayhem he and his men chatted to the Markman workers who were walking to and from work because of the taxi strike.

“I feel sorry for them.

“Many are women and some of them are not young, and I can see they’re tired and their homes are not close.”

Wilson said he was amazed how many people continued to find a way to get to their places of business in Markman or other areas, requiring them to cross through the affected area in and around the R75.

“You would think they would stay home, but they just want to work.”

He said he and his team were learning as they went along how best deal to with the ubiquitous burning tyre problem.

“One of our clients has given us big steel rods which we now use to pull the burning tyres out the way. 

“Putting the flames out is still a problem, so two days ago I Googled to see if there was a better alternative for rubber fires.

“It said sand and so we collected a bakkie-load of building sand and a couple of spades, and, sure enough, it works beautifully.”

He said the tension had mounted this week and also affected his team.

“I lie awake at night worrying about our clients. 

“We patrol the Markman roads each morning on motorbikes to see if they’re clear and my guys are always on duty.

“They phone me at night if there’s a problem and I try to grab a few hours sleep in between.

“This week my phone has been pinging and ponging like a gambling machine, and of course it’s a great stress for my family.”

He said social media had ratcheted up the pressure for all security personnel.

“Fear mongering and fake news have got so bad you almost don’t need burning tyres any more, you just need a phone.”

He said as hard as the situation was for private security companies, it was harder for under-resourced police.

“I saw Pops [public order policing] members arriving at a violent protest scene in a Quantum [minibus] on one occasion and taking the protesters by surprise.

“You wouldn’t want to mess with those guys.

“They burst out their vehicle, fired rubber bullets and the protesters ran.

“But then the protesters stopped and started swearing and hurling abuse at the police and their families, and the police just had to stand there.”

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