Johannesburg - Traffic has been brought to a standstill on the N3 highway near Van Reenen following the torching of six trucks on Saturday.
It is reported that the incident was due to an arson attack early on Sunday morning after six trucks were set alight, leading to the road closure.
It is still not clear what the cause of the arson was, with authorities urging motorists to delay their trips as emergency officials engaged in mop-up operations.
They have secured the area, and the fires have been doused. The clean-up and recovery operations are under way.
According to FleetWatch Magazine, this could be a deliberate attack against truck drivers, with reports that north-bound traffic heading to Johannesburg has been stopped at Tugela Plaza, while south-bound traffic heading to Durba,n is packed at the top of Van Reenen's Pass.
"After talking to various people at the scene, this was a well-planned attack on trucks. The attackers fled the scene. They planned the ambush, got the trucks to stop by spreading some debris and rocks across the road, shot at them, and then burned them," a road user told Fleet.
"One truck has numerous bullet holes in the cab from the attackers shooting at it.“
N3 Toll Concession operations manager Thania Dhoogra said road traffic and emergency services officials were working around the clock to clear the road.
"Mop-up operations are currently under way. Law enforcement agencies are working really hard to get the road open to traffic as quickly as possible," she said.
She added that truck drivers were forced out of their vehicles.
"We do not have a very clear picture of what happened, but the preliminary report indicates that truck drivers were forced out of their vehicles and the vehicles were set alight. Unfortunately, that is currently under investigation by law enforcement agencies, and we do not have information as to a possible motive for this," she said.
The Star