The Western Cape E-Hailing Association (WCEA) has announced that its members, which include drivers for popular e-hailing apps such as Uber, Bolt, and inDrive, will embark on monthly protest action until December.
The WCEA members will go offline for one day in each of the upcoming months – starting today, 20 August 2024 – in protest of alleged unfair treatment by the e-hailing companies.
WCEA chairperson Siyabonga Hlabisa told CapeTalk that the association has voiced many concerns to the parent organisations which have fallen on deaf ears, forcing it to initiate strike action.
E-hailing driver demands
A main grievance for e-hailing operators in South Africa is a lack of safety.
These drivers have been the targets of numerous violent attacks in recent years, many of which were carried out by minibus taxi owners who claim that e-hailing services operating in the same area steal their customers.
Additionally, criminals often create fake accounts on these apps due to a lack of proper user verification protocols to rob, assault, or kidnap the e-hailing driver, or steal their vehicle.
Hlabisa states that e-hailing companies have done little to address these issues, which have seen the emergence of vigilante groups specially formed to protect e-hailing operators.
The WCEA has requested these organisations to go cashless and instate more stringent verification measures for both drivers and users, believing this will be enough to deter the majority of criminals from targeting e-hailing drivers.
“Uber is the only app of the popular ones that is not yet compliant with us in terms of the verification of the rider. Bolt has tried their best to have a verification of the rider, in terms of making sure the rider at least [uploads] their ID and [use] face recognition, and I think inDrive is doing the same,” said Hlabisa.
“Our biggest concern was that our drivers are picking up people who they don’t even know by face. That’s why we are becoming such easy targets and victims, because sometimes when someone jumps in the car there’s no verification, they just confirm their name… and that’s why most of the drivers are getting robbed.”
The companies have implemented a system with which drivers can report a dangerous situation through the app, however, this did not have the intended effect as one of the first things the criminals take are the operators’ phones.
The WCEA therefore calls on the e-hailing conglomerates to devise a new system that will ensure the continued safety of the driver without being reliant
It also wants “dangerous areas” to effectively be blacklisted.
Hlabisa said there are known areas where e-hailing drivers are regularly assaulted and robbed, but ride requests keep coming from these areas, and drivers desperate to earn an income are willing to risk their lives for a chance to pick up these purported users.
The WCEA receives on average four reports of drivers being robbed or assaulted per day just within the Western Cape province, said Hlabisa.
Apart from increased safety, the WCEA wants e-hailing companies to reinstate drivers whose accounts were unfairly deactivated.
Bolt permanently blocked over 6,000 drivers from its platform in the first six months of 2024 due to safety and compliance concerns, however, many of these individuals said they were unfairly dismissed and not given a chance to contest the company’s decision.
Uber has done the same, but on a smaller scale.
The WCEA has thus far submitted between 300 to 400 appeals on behalf of its members. Hlabisa said that a small portion of Bolt drivers has subsequently been unblocked, but that the WCEA has received no communication from Uber.
“Drivers are getting blocked without [the companies] hearing the two sides of the story between the driver and the client,” said Hlabisa.
“It just depends on who reported the case first. There’s no proper investigation that is being done.”
In addition, the WCEA has implored e-hailing businesses to revise their ride pricing scheme.
Many drivers struggle to make ends meet as they claim they do not make enough money to pay for fuel and maintenance on their vehicles, as well as basic necessities such as food and clothing, due to the fares charged being too low.
Hlabisa highlighted that some drivers must complete as many as 25 trips per day just to make in the realm of R400, a large percentage of which is then taken by the e-hailing companies.
Up to now, the pricing structure was set by the companies and was relatively vague, however, President Cyril Ramaphosa recently signed into law the amended National Land Transport Act, giving the Minister of Transport limited powers to set the price of e-hailing rides.
While this has yet to make any tangible differences in ride costs, the WCEA hopes that the legislative changes will benefit drivers.
“We celebrate the fact that the president has signed the bill, and we hope prices are going to be [corrected],” said Hlabisa.
“Our hope that we have is that something good may come, but our reality is that we are not making any money at this current moment.”
Lastly, the WCEA contends that e-hailing companies must revise their maximum age limit on cars.
E-hailing drivers are required to take their vehicles for roadworthy inspections once a year to keep their compliant status. These reports are used by Uber, Bolt, and inDrive to assess the condition of the operators’ cars.
However, the age cap and roadworthy test have not curbed the spread of shoddy, low-quality cars being used for e-hailing vehicles.
Hlabisa said that the e-hailing companies must investigate the roadworthy inspection businesses that keep awarding certificates to vehicles that are in poor condition, instead of forcing the drivers to purchase newer cars that they generally can’t afford.
“We keep on saying to [the e-hailing companies], they must ensure that the [roadworthy companies] are doing the right thing,” said Hlabisa.
“The question comes, how did an [unroadworthy] car pass that test in the first place?”
The WCEA hopes that the planned strike action over the next four months will be enough to spur the e-hailing companies to address these concerns.
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