A 55-year-old driver died from injuries sustained when his truck was stopped and set alight on the N3 near Heidelberg, south of Johannesburg on Monday.

More than 30 trucks have been targeted and at least a dozen of them torched since the weekend.

The trucks are stopped by vehicles blocking the four-lane highway. They are then looted before being set alight.

Drivers say they fear for their lives.

The highway carries mostly local trucks.

However much of the copper and other heavy cargo coming from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi is also hauled along the N3.

Leader of the All Truck Drivers Forum of South Africa Mandla Mngomenzulu insists his members are not responsible.

He blames criminal elements taking advantage of the local truck drivers’ grievances.

Local driver says they have been betrayed by transport firms who employ foreigners and pay them less than unionised truckers.

The attacks have been made for at least a decade both along the N3 and on the N1 motorway between Johannesburg and Cape Town

Police have not been able control the situation.

Sometime the attacks happen as trucks wait to pass through tollgates along the motorways.

The Road Freight Association, which represents the employers, is calling for government intervention to stop what it calls a war on its trucks.

Technical operation manager of the RFA Gavin Kelly says: “Truck drivers fear for their lives. We have seen trucks being shot at as they drove past assailants waiting on the side of the road and they’re not being apprehended.

“The drivers are just having random shots fired at them. It’s not just foreign drivers being attacked, it’s also local drivers in the firing line. 

“Obviously, people don’t want to send out their drivers if there is a chance that they are going to be injured or killed,.”

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The vaccine, which has proved effective in more than forty percent of children between 17 months and five years, is already available in Ghana and Malawi.

The RTS,S vaccine, which trains the immune system to destroy the malaria parasite, requires four doses.

It has been 30 years in the making. 

It will be available every year to more than 300 000 children under the age of two in the three countries.

Malaria kills more than 400 000 children a year – more than half of them are in sub Sahara Africa.

The World Health Organization says the vaccine should not stop people using bed nets and insecticides. 

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Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Lindiwe Sisulu who carried financial aid to the region yesterday says she’s never seen such devastation.

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Foreign Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, who’s given R135-million to Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi. says South Africa will continue to provide practical rescue and recovery assistance after the cyclone.

(Take in Lindiwe clip here)

She engaged with SANF and SAPS personnel who have been on the ground since shortly after the cyclone struck earlier this month.

Sisulu was travelling with Patrice Motsepe whose foundation  gave R30-million to Zimbabwe and Mozambique

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She’ll be accompanied to Beira and Chimanini by mining magnate and humanitarian POatrice Motsepe.

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Foreign minister  Lindiwe Sisulu will visit South African and United Nations rescue teams working to help those displaced by the flooding two weeks ago.

She’s carrying food, clothes, water and blankets collected from South African businesses and individuals.

The death toll from the cyclone in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Malawi and South Africa is approaching 700, although the final number might never be be known.

Sisulu will visit South African National Defense Force rescuers and compatriots who have volunteered  to do para-medical and rescue work for NGOs 

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In Mozambique, which was hit twice by the wind and water, people are still being plucked from trees or rescued from roofs.

Hundreds have died and the toll could exceed 1000.

The worst weather disaster to strike the southern hemisphere has changed forever the lives of millions who have lost family members, homes and livelihoods.

Pope Francis, speaking in the Vatican yesterday, appealed for international help.

The governments of Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi acknowledge that the disaster is too big for them to handle unassisted.

Food and clean water is an immediate need in affected areas.

Unless immediately addressed, disease and even more deaths are inevitable.

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Appealing for material and logistical support, the world organisation says the emergency is getting worse by the hour.

People clinging to trees or stranded on rooftops are waiting to be rescued from the floods caused by Cyclone Idai.

Mozambique President Filipe Nyusi says he fears the death toll in his country, where more than 1,7 million people were in the path of the storm, will exceed 1 000.

900 000 people were in Idai’s path in Malawi and hundreds of people are missing in Zimbabwe that was also ravaged by the cyclone.

Stateswoman Graca Machel say the effects of the storm are overwhelming for the region and international assistance is vital.

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With tropical cyclone Idai expected to take landfall at Beira today, at least 120  people have died in Mozambique, Malawi and South Africa. Nearly a million have been displaced.

Mozambique is particularly prone to heavy rai  and flooding at this time of year.

800 people drowned in 2000 and  100 four years ago.

Heavy rain is forecast until at least the weekend.

The United Nations is calling for emergency assistance in both Mozambique and Malawi.

Gift Of The Givers is standing by to augment help expected from the South African National Defense Force with rescue boats, divers, aquatic rescue personnel, paramedics and medical teams.

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Correspondents with her say she’s never appeared so delighted as she has been on her trip to Ghana, Malawi, Kenya and Cairo.

President Donald Trump triumphantly tweeted that it’s a beautiful thing to see how well his wife is doing in Africa.

Reporters with Melania Trump are not as euphoric.

Africans have not forgotten the president’s foul-mouthed and contemptuous dismissal of them earlier this year.

Kenya’s first lady Margaret Kenyatta was the soul of hospitality when taking her American counterpart around a elephant orphanage, where a laughing Melania nearly lost her footing.

Her solo safari, which ends in Egypt, has shown her interest in conservation, education, children’s welfare and tourism. 

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She’s tweeted that her solo visits are designed to take her Be Best initiative international.

Melania Trump’s visits to Ghana, Kenya, Malawi and Egypt are designed to heal some of the divisions caused by President Donald Trump’s remark last February dismissing African nations as shithole countries.

The first destination rolled out the red carpet for her. she was met by Ghana’s first lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo.

She will visit health care and education programs run by USAID, Washington’s foreign assistance arm.

The Be Best initiative she promotes is designed to boost healthy living and self worth and to tackle issues like cyberbullying.

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Both has been in Africa in pursuit of causes closest to their hearts.

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Prince William donned his army uniform on the final day of his Africa tour to engage with the Irish guards training in Kenya.

He was  on the continent working for organizations TUSK and United For Wildlife of which he is a patron.

Melania Trump will visit Ghana, Malawi, Kenya and Egypt.

Her visit will concentrate on issues confronting families and children.

She’s following in the footsteps of recent U.S. first ladies  these past four decades – her husband’s scatological  dismissal of African countries notwithstanding. 

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