Drivers resist NTB amid threats and delays
A Copperbelt road freight issue that appeared resolved in December has resurfaced, causing tensions to escalate and creating significant risks for transporters, their assets, cargo, and cross-border drivers.
The Transit Assistance Bureau (Transist) reports that mandatory truck scanning was quietly reintroduced on Wednesday, January 21, at the Kanyaka Truck Park in Lubumbashi, a central hub serving copper mines extending as far north-west as Kolwezi.
“When the US$100-per-scan requirement was first introduced in December, it led to strong opposition from drivers citing exorbitant costs and severe congestion,” says Transist chief executive Mike Fitzmaurice. At the time, the measure was suspended by the governor of Haut Katanga province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
In the latest development, resistance to the non-tariff barrier (NTB) was immediate and intense. According to Transist, “only two trucks complied, a Zimbabwean fuel tanker and a Tanzanian truck.” Hundreds of other drivers refused to pass through, calling the $100 fee unfair and the scanning process a major cause of congestion.
“The two trucks that did go through required a police escort, as other drivers reportedly threatened to stone them for breaking the united protest,” Fitzmaurice says.
Drivers point to neighbouring countries, such as Zambia and Botswana, where scanners are applied only to selected trucks and no extra fees are charged beyond standard authority taxes.
As of yesterday morning, the situation remained deadlocked, disrupting a key supply chain line that serves the DRC’s copper and cobalt mining sector. The renewed conflict underscores the ongoing challenges facing transporters navigating regulatory and operational barriers in the region.