Missing N3 Crash Truck Driver Confirmed as Foreign National, Still on the Run

KwaZulu-Natal authorities have confirmed that the truck driver at the centre of Friday’s deadly crash near the Bergville Interchange on the N3 is a foreign national from Swaziland.

The crash left four people dead and several others fighting for their lives after the truck ploughed into a stationary minibus taxi that had stopped in the emergency lane.

Instead of facing the consequences, the driver dumped the truck and vanished. Provincial Road Traffic Inspectorate spokesperson Sindi Msimang said investigators have since tracked down the company that employed him.

“The driver is still missing; he fled the scene after causing the accident yesterday. We managed to get hold of the company that had employed him, and they have confirmed that the driver is from Swaziland. He is not answering their calls either. A case of culpable homicide has been opened in Ladysmith by the South African Police Service (SAPS),” Msimang said.

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The revelation that the driver is a foreign national is likely to fuel anger among South African truckers, who have long accused employers of sidelining them in favour of foreign drivers. Local drivers argue that companies deliberately hire immigrants to exploit them with lower pay and poor working conditions, while leaving South Africans without opportunities.

For years, drivers have warned that the use of undocumented foreigners creates dangerous loopholes – when something goes wrong, they simply disappear. Friday’s tragedy is now a grim example of exactly that.

Police have launched a manhunt, while SAPS investigators work with the company and other authorities to track him down.