Striking truck drivers in the Johannesburg CBD threw stones at passing trucks on Tuesday, metro police said.

“The trucks were passing Beyers Naude square, where truck drivers are protesting,” Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar said.

“Companies are requested to tell their people not to send any trucks into the Joburg CBD in order to avoid further violence and damage to trucks.”

Earlier, the SA Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu) said over 20,000 employees in the road freight sector were on strike over their pay increase on Tuesday.

Employees in the road freight sector — which includes truck drivers –were demanding a 12 percent increase. Their employers had offered 8.5 percent.

Satawu said the strike came about when wage negotiations deadlocked after protracted discussions since early June at the National Bargaining Council for the Road Freight and Logistics Industry (NBCRFLI).

Satawu spokesman Vincent Masoga said no marches were planned for Tuesday, but that workers would gather at Beyers Naude Gardens, opposite the Johannesburg Library, for news.

Notice was given for a strike from Monday, but the effects were not immediately visible because it was a public holiday.

Minnaar said traffic was being diverted from Simmonds street and Pritchard street as well as at the intersection of Harrison and Pritchard streets and President and Sauer streets.

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