Gavin Kelly, CEO of the Road Freight Association, has no confidence in the capacity of the police to address the latest spate of arson attacks on trucks.

On Wednesday, Police Minister Bheki Cele said during a media briefing on the recent spate of arson attacks on trucks that: "We have a capable state that has learnt from the past."

Gavin Kelly, CEO of the Road Freight Association, which has 500 members ranging from small family businesses to South Africa's largest trucking companies, sees no evidence that the police arm of the state is up to the task of addressing the latest attacks that have seen more than 20 trucks torched in KZN, Mpumalanga and Limpopo.

"Zero," was his blunt reply when Daily Maverick asked him on Thursday if he had any confidence in the police on this front.

"This phenomenon has been around for six years or so. There have been some years that it's been really bad and others when it's been quiet. And we've had drivers over the years who have been killed... they've been burnt, they've been seriously injured," Kelly said.

'Not one court case'

"And we haven't seen one, not one, court case where those who perpetrated this sort of thing were brought to book. Haven't seen one. If these are all happening in the dark, in night court, we don't know about...