The All Truck Drivers Forum and Allied South Africa (ATDF-ASA) has issued a statement addressing growing internal tensions and calling for a leadership overhaul within the organisation.
In a letter penned by National Secretary Gugu Sokhela, the ATDF-ASA highlighted the need to reconvene for a special conference after numerous executive members resigned over the past year.
The call to “bring back our jobs, South Africans first,” has been a longstanding position for ATDF-ASA.
Recently, however, issues within the organisation have reportedly overshadowed the advocacy work of the group.
According to the statement, the resignation of critical executive members, including the National Chairperson, Deputy National Chairperson, and National Organiser, has left the ATDF-ASA in a leadership void.
The organisation’s current executive members, appointed by a single branch rather than a full conference, are seen as lacking the mandate to govern.
The ATDF-ASA also took aim at the National Executive Committee’s (NEC) involvement in provincial issues, particularly in Free State and KwaZulu-Natal, which the group claims was an overreach.
With the NEC dissolved, Sokhela told SA Trucker that the group’s founders will make a formal statement within the next two weeks about convening a special conference to re-elect leadership.
Read | ATDF-ASA Warns Trucking Industry of Suspended Members Extorting Money from Employers
“Our stance against the “transfer of poverty” remains steadfast. By advocating for South African truck drivers’ employment and critiquing the use of foreign drivers, we seek to bring more job opportunities back to our local truckers,” Sokhela told SA Trucker.
He urged members and supporters to view the upcoming conference as crucial to restoring focus on these core objectives amid the challenges posed by internal factionalism.
“This upcoming special conference will be key for the future of ATDF-ASA and its objectives in the South African trucking industry,” he concluded.
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