Johannesburg - Infinite Fleet Transport, the company that owns the truck that was involved in the Boksburg tanker explosion on December 24, 2022, has been cleared of any wrongdoing by an independent auditor.
A review by independent road transport safety system auditor Transheq, which reportedly conducted this investigation, has cleared the trucking company that owned the tanker that exploded in Boksburg, killing 37 people, including Tambo Memorial Hospital staff members.
On Christmas Eve, the truck carrying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) got stuck under a bridge in Boksburg, resulting in a leak and blast that instantly killed 10 people and injured many others. Since then, the death toll has risen, and now stands at 37.
Richard Durrant, director of Transheq Consulting and Auditing, the firm that conducted the audit, spoke to eNCA's Heidi Giokos on Wednesday.
Durrant, an independent road transport safety system auditor and Safety Quality Assessment for Sustainability (SQAS-Africa) system lead auditor, was appointed to review Infinite Fleet Transport's compliance and legal and best practice requirements to conduct this investigation.
Durrant, speaking from Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape while on leave, said the trucking company had complied with legal and best practice requirements, and the driver was legally sanctioned to operate the tanker. He said his investigation studied documentation that was given to him by the trucking company.
“One of those documents studied was the SQAS-Africa assessment provided by Sasol. My scope was more on legal compliance and whether the driver and the vehicle were legally compliant and whether the driver was on the legal route, and I looked at the tracking information … After studying the information, I found that there were no issues or variations of the route by the driver,” Durrant said.
It is not clear if this investigation will be accepted by all the affected parties or if another one will be conducted.
National Union of Metalworkers (NUM) secretary-general Irvin Jim said on social media that this was just another ploy to ensure that the trucking company was cleared of wrongdoing, saying the investigation was done remotely instead of a thorough on-site investigation.
“This guy did his investigation remotely at his desk, but his opinion matters, exonerating the gas company whose gas explosion killed many in Boksburg,” Jim said, referring to Durrant.
The Star