I adjusted the mirror so I can see what the person looks like, when she was settling into
her seat, I noticed that this person is not wearing her underwear...
We left and when we got to the destination, when it was time to pay, this guy pulled a
toy gun out and told me to jump out while the car was in motion, I refused and asked what's going on?
I started with Taxify, profits were good at the time,
so I decided to leave my former job
because I saw a great business opportunity here with growth potential,
I then bought a second car and was in business full-time.
[Music]
Approximayely 68% of South Africans use mini-bus taxis to travel to & from work,
school and anywhere else they need to go
but in recent years there's been an infiltration of ehailing services like Uber & Bolt.
The ehailing business is growing but it has its own challenges,
so I decided to speak to some ehailing drivers in Johannesburg, South Africa.
to find out about their lives as New Age taxi drivers. This is their story...
We met a couple of days back, I am interested in hearing your story
you said you were picking up clients from Illovo, what happened after that?
I was picking up from Illovo Sandton dropping the clients off in Johannesburg CBD,
I picked up two male passengers, one sat in the front seat the other one behind me.
the guy seated next to me struck a conversation with me and everything was fine,
the one at the back was just busy on his phone.
We left and when we got to the destination,
when it was time to pay, this guy pulled a toy gun out
and told me to jump out while the car was in motion,
I refused and asked him what's going on?
He insisted..JUMP...on the outside there were other people working with them,
as we approached they also pulled out guns forcing me to leave the car...
I ignored them and put the car into first gear and aimed for the one with the gun outside, I bumped him over.
The one seated at the back put a belt around my neck trying to choke me, I then slowed down and they jumped out.
I then went to the police when we went back to where the incident happened, they were all gone.
When did this incident happen?
It was in the afternoon around 4
was it the first time you were a victim of such?
It was the first time I had a gun pointed at me. Usually it's phone robberies but I just flee from those.
I got into the industry through a friend who invited me, saying there's an opportunity to earn extra,
at the time I was working but was on maternity leave, So I took the opportunity because I had I car so I worked.
I started with Taxify, profits were good at the time,
so I decided to leave my former job because I saw a great business opportunity here with growth potential,
I then bought a second car and was in business full-time.
Little did I know the consequences of that decision of leaving my former job...
I say this because this is a high risk business, I got into an accident ,
the car was written off, the second car also got into an accident with my driver.
Then came a series of car issues, I had to fix this and that, one after the other...
car problems are put a strain on you.
My brother, you say you have a story, you picked up a client, then what happened?
When I got to the destination, it was time for them to pay, as they requested a cash trip,
I realized they don't have money. She was supposed to pay me two hundred and three rands.
I got nothing, so I reported the matter to Uber, but am glad Uber assisted and I got my money last week.
Bolt would have never refunded me for such a trip. They would have given me story after story
because I sometimes don't know what the problem is on Bolt's side, it seems they are not keen on assisting drivers,
for example someone with request a pick up from a place with dodgy roads
and when you get there you realize the roads are in a bad state and you have no choice but to cancel the trip and then they drop your driver score.
Because of facing such issues, you get blocked from the Bolt app,
but with Uber if you state your case well, they do a follow up, and at the end they resolve your issue. That's the difference,
Uber takes care of both clients and drivers, they care about our safety.
Bolt, I won't say we don't need it, we work with them but it seems like they don't care about us as drivers. That's my story...
Where were you picking up this woman from?
This woman request a pick up from Fourways, they were going to Sandton,
the other one still owes me but I still helped her with my money because she didn't have cash...she promised to pay me via eft
when we reach her destination, when we reached her residence, there was no electricity,
cellphone network was down, she promised to transfer it to my bank account,
but she is yet to pay! She owes me four hundred and fifty rands. So much money, just imagine!
And then this other woman, she got into the backseat from Fourways, where you going?
She got into the back,took her seat then I adjusted the mirror so I can see what the person looks like,
when she was settling into her seat, I noticed that this person is not wearing her underwear.
I immediately told her to get off the car because I don't work with people like that, because I can quickly pre-ampt a situation fast.
I asked her to cancel the trip, because I can't transport her like that,
if she wants me to transport her, she must put on her underwear then I will transport her.
Do you think she was trying to pay with her services?
Of course, after that she never came back because I gave her a choice, she chose to cancel the trip and I left her there.
So how common are such stories in the industry?
There are such stories, this one happened during the day, but at night such incidents do happen...
You say that you no longer do night trips, why?
No I don't feel safe at night, I don't feel safe at night at all, it's better I work from morning til afternoon, 6am to 6pm or 7am to 7pm.
After then I switch off my app and go home.
A number of people I have spoken to are men and they say there's a lot of crime you guys face a lot of challenges
and crime on a daily basis, have you faced any of these challenges on your side?
Yes I have, I have, as a woman. Someone requested my services from Killarney Mall to Yeoville, in 2016 December.
Then we didn't know of any high danger zones, but Yeoville is one of those High crime zones in South Africa.
But you would get excited about your trip because of your potential earnings from that particular trip,
so what excites you is the price for the trip and you then decide to do the trip.
They requested a trip, as I arrived they broke the window, they took my phone, my money. It took just a few seconds for them to do that,
I was left dazed and confused. I then went to the local police station, at the station, surprisingly enough, the police are fed up
with Bolt and Uber issues ehailing specifically because the crime issues happens to almost every driver.
And we end up opening alot of police cases and they are overwhelmed,
they don't know how to handle these reports of stolen phones and cash robbed from us.
But lately we have lost a lot of fellow drivers in the industry.
Now they're getting killed! And we don't understand, we ask ourselves, how did we move from hijacking, robbing to killing,
it is shocking how the crime is affecting us in the last few years.
In a month we are burying about four or five fellow drivers getting killed for nothing really.
We are shocked by these violent crimes and we do not understand but we ask ourselves if our government is aware of such crimes?
If they are aware, then why is government quiet about it?
I was saying to you earlier on, you guys have identified Hotspot in your industry, that you know you don't pick up from here...
It's not safe in the industry these days, I hear there are people calling you to deliver illegal marchendise,
how is that situation?
On my side when it comes to deliveries, I haven't received such requests,
usually I have an issue with people requesting trips using new apps, that's a red flag in some cases.
But I get alot of requests from downtown Johannesburg, but on the other side, no because I go to most places.
I am personally no longer interested in working in this industry anymore because
I have been working in ehailing for seven years but I don't see productivity, I don't see profits
instead I have lost all the cars I started this business with!
They are making it as if it's easy to have a car and provide this service.
Qualifying to get finance for purchasing a car is another struggle, so if you can't afford to maintain wear and tear,
buy petrol, to buy food, to even clean the car. Because it has to be vacuumed you to keep it clean and smart,
and if can no longer maintain yourself because of other bills. As I am working, I expect my labour's to reward me financially.
it is such issues and expenses that make the industry to no longer be of benefit to me.