How much money Uber and Bolt drivers earn in South Africa

Bolt and Uber drivers in South Africa reportedly earn less per kilometre than the Sars-recommended allowance for employees using their cars for work purposes.

One notable indicator of this is the widespread strikes from e-hailing drivers that took place in July 2025, with drivers claiming that the platforms had increased their commissions from around 25% to as much as 50%.

However, both Uber and Bold have denied these claims, stating that they have maintained 25% and 24% commissions on fares, respectively.

Another raised concern is the overall reduction in trip fares, with one e-hailing association noting that fares have reduced by 35% since 2016.

In the past, drivers have been reluctant to publicly share their earnings, a part of this being due to the fear of reprisals from Uber and Bolt for disclosing such information.

The present situation has gotten to the point where many drivers are now posting their earnings or potential earnings from trips on a large, publicly accessible Facebook group for e-hailing drivers.

This included reports such as one Uber driver with a R554.34 trip in an unspecified area, earning R334.34 after Uber’s commission and taxes – these accounting for only R28.69 or 5.2% of the total.

The remaining R191.32 taken by Uber was its commission, meaning the platform took a 34% share of the trip in this instance.

This is less than the claimed 50% but still higher than Uber’s official figure of 25%.

Data analysis also revealed that the estimated trip earnings before confirmation resulted in drivers being paid around R4 per kilometre.

These figures can be seen in the table below.

Escalating strikes

The figures for commissions and payouts notably don’t include other expenses drivers must endure, such as fuel.

Even with a fuel-efficient car that can cover 20 kilometres per litre, with current petrol prices, they’ll still have to pay R1.08 per kilometre for fuel.

This effectively means that even the drivers with the technically best cars for the situation are losing around a quarter of their already very low pay to cover petrol.

Another key issue is that Sars recommends that employers provide their employees with an allowance of R4.76 per kilometre when they use their own car for work.

These figures don’t account for wear and tear either, with drivers still needing to worry about replacing tires and servicing their cars.

The combination of these factors has led to the National E-hailing Federation of South Africa warning that the discontent among drivers is reaching a critical point.

This has resulted in “unprecedented” levels of cooperation between e-hailing associations and the possibility of a historically large strike soon should the status quo continue as it is now.

“We can’t say that it will happen tomorrow, but definitely, national action is coming. That is what I guarantee you,” Nefsa president Elijah Lekgowane recently said to Cape Talk.

“We are saying to the app companies: If we can’t make earnings, you can’t make a profit. As simple as that.”